Gossip Column (Carmilla)
by Lizzy Bradwell
Summary: Inspired by Carmilla Web Series. A small accident and a photograph seen out of context turn Laura's life upside down when she finds herself becoming famous as the girlfriend of a punk star she never actually met. I don't own any characters.
1. Chapter 1

Laura Hollis was a journalist fresh out of college. Today she was celebrating her first job by having dinner with her closest friends. As this was a special day, she allowed herself the luxury of dining in of of the best Italian restaurants in the city; a place that she certainly couldn't afford to eat at frequently. The night was perfect. She talked and laughed with her friends while they ate heavenly food and drank superb wine.

LaFontaine and their partner, Perry, and Danny and her boyfriend Kirsch, were Laura's friends since her freshman year at Silas University. They were a group of people completely different from each other, but they worked well together and their friendship was real. They always had each others back no matter what; for better or worse, they were together.

As they went their separate ways at the end of the night, Laura realized she had forgotten her jacket in the restaurant when the cold night air made her shiver. She walked back to the restaurant and ran right into someone coming out at the same time she was trying to get in. They stumbled together and held on to each other in an attempt to avoid the fall. They managed to steady themselves with Laura holding on to the other person's shoulder while they had their hands around her waist. When she looked up, Laura gasped, she had run into the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She had mesmerizing black eyes, jaws that seemed to have been sculpted in marble and very kissable lips. Her hair was black, long, with beautiful curls.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" The woman said in a raspy, low voice that sent a new wave of shivers down Laura's spine.

"Huh, yeah, I'm fine" she answered "what about you? Did you get hurt? I'm so sorry that I ran into you like this. It's just that I was leaving and I realized that I'd forgotten my jacket inside, because it's cold and I came back for it and I didn't see you coming out of the restaurant..."

"Breathe, Cupcake." The other woman said with a chuckle. "I'm fine, don't worry about it."

"Right, yeah" Laura said. Realizing she was still holding the other woman, she quickly let go and took a step back, the stranger's hands falling away from her waist. "Ok, so, I'll just, hum, go."

She quickly turned around to enter the restaurant before she could embarrass herself more. She heard the other woman's quiet laugh as she finally stepped in the restaurant.

When she was back home, comfortable on her bed, Laura's thoughts were full of the beautiful stranger she had run into earlier. She wondered who she was and if she would ever see her again.

* * *

The buzzing of her cell phone woke Laura up the next day earlier than she would have liked. She groaned and reached for her phone on her nightstand. She sighed quietly when she saw it was LaFontaine. _It's only 7:30 in the morning, what on earth does Laf want with me?_

She unlocked her phone and started to read the many texts she had gotten from her best friend.

 **Laf** : You sneaky thing! How come you didn't tell me anything about it?

 **Laf** : Seriously Laura, why didn't you say anything?

 **Laf** : Why didn't she join us last night? She clearly met you there after we left, so, what's with the secrecy?

 **Laf** : We are meeting for coffee and you'll spill the beans. Wake up already!

Laura was extremely confused by the stream of texts. She didn't understand what LaFontaine was talking about. Her sleepy brain wasn't helping much. She texted her friend back:

 **Laura** : Laf… it's too early, why did you wake me up?

 **Laura** : I don't have any idea what you're babbling about. Who is this she you're talking about? I didn't meet anyone beside you guys last night.

Since she was already awake, Laura decided to get up and start her day. She went to the kitchen to make herself some hot cocoa. When she sat down at the table to drink it, Laf answered her text.

 **Laf** :Come on Laur, no need to keep up the pretence, it's out now. Everybody knows and I mean everybody.

 **Laura** : I still don't know what you're talking about. Sorry?

 **Laf** : Today's paper. Gossip column.

 **Laura** : You know I don't read that shit. And whatever new celebrity scandal has been uncovered I'm not interested.

 **Laf** : For someone who hates the gossip column so much you found a sure way to be constantly featured in it.

 **Laura** : WHAT?

 **Laf** : Oh my god, just freaking check the paper so that you can start telling me the juicy details so that I can forgive you for letting me find out about this from the PAPER.

Feeling extremely confused Laura got up and went to get her copy of the paper on her mailbox. Back at her kitchen she opened the paper in the dreaded and usually ignored gossip column. It was a good thing that she was sitting down, or she might have actually fallen. Taking up three quarters of the page was a photograph of herself and the woman from the previous night in what, without context, looked like a lover's embrace. Her eyes quickly moved to read what the piece said:

" _ **The elusive punk star Carmilla Karnstein is out of the market**_

 _By Sarah Jane_

 _Ladies, it is my job to bring heartbreak to you today. Carmilla Karnstein, the adored punk star that all the ladies dream about dating is out of the market. That's correct. Karnstein was photographed embracing her lady love last night as they left a famous Italian restaurant after a romantic dinner. We talked exclusively with a few people who were at the restaurant at the same time that our newly discovered couple and they said the two girls spent a cozy night eating pasta, drinking wine and laughing together. One person who sat at the table next to them said that they were constantly holding hands over the table and sharing heart-eyes with each other. We don't know the identity of Karnstein's mystery lady yet, but we'll let you know as soon as we find out._

 _To keep up to date with all about Karnstein's new love follow me on Twitter."_

Laura's eyes were wide with shock. She looked again at the photograph that she didn't even realized was being taken the previous night. Only one word came out of the mouth: "Shit!"


	2. Chapter 2

Laura sat down with a groan and put her head on the table. She had texted LaFontaine as soon as she had finished reading that travesty of an article, asking them to meet at their favorite coffee shop. LaFontaine laughed at Laura's display.

"Come on L, it's not so bad. Sooner or later people would learn about this. Karnstein is really famous, there's no way you could hide it forever. What I don't understand is why you felt the need to hide it from me." They said, their voice sounding a little hurt.

Laura finally looked up at her best friend.

"I didn't hide anything from you because there was never anything to hide. I'm not dating Carmilla Karnstein."

"Oh" LaFontaine furrowed their brow in thought, "then you had a one night stand with her?"

"God, no!" Laura almost shouted. "This is all just a huge misunderstanding. The first and only time I've ever been in Carmilla's company was the one minute when that photo was taken."

"But, I don't understand Laura, in the picture the two of you are holding each other. Why would you be hugging her then?"

"And that is why I don't read the gossip columns," Laura said letting her anger show, "those people don't have any respect for journalism. They simply took that picture out of context and created a whole new em _and untrue/em_ story with it."

"Ok, tell me exactly what happened after we left the restaurant last night." Said LaFontaine who was now more confused than ever.

Laura told the story to her friend, how she had gone back for her jacket and ran into Carmilla. When she finished, she slumped in her chair and waited for LaFontaine to process the information they'd just been given.

"Holy shit, L! This is so crazy. I can't believe you got yourself into this mess." They laughed.

"Stop laughing LaF. This isn't funny. Do you have any idea of how much trouble this could be if that rumormonger finds out my name? And just to make it clear, _I_ didn't get myself into this mess, I was put into it by a very irresponsible 'journalist'", she finished with an air quote.

"I'm sorry, Laura. But this _is_ hilarious. Think about it, you always hated the gossip column and now you've been featured in it as the lady love of one of the most famous musicians nowadays, _and_ you're not even really dating her." They kept laughing.

"Uggh, this is ridiculous. I just hope they don't discover my name." She said.

"Don't worry, Laura. I don't think they'll find out who you are. And once they realize that was the only time you've been seen with Karnstein they will forget the whole thing and move on to the next scandal. You know how it works." LaFontaine tried to console Laura.

"Yeah, let's hope you're right".

"I am right, you'll see. But damn, Laura. Karnstein is hot, it wouldn't be a bad thing if you were dating her." They said.

Laura finally begun to relax and laughed at LaFontaine's disappointment at her nonexistent relationship with the famous punk singer.

"Yeah, I googled her after I read that stupid article. I have to agree with you that she is hot, but honestly, LaF, I don't know the first thing about her, so I can't say I'd like to actually date her."

Laura's phone started to ring again, checking the caller ID she groaned. It was Danny and she probably wanted to know what was going on just like LaFontaine did earlier.

"Hi Danny!" She answered.

"Why the hell are you dating a woman like Karnstein, Laura?"

"Well, I'm fine, thanks for asking Danny." Laura replied sarcastically. She wasn't in the mood to take shit from anyone.

"I'm sorry, Laur. It's just that" she took a deep breath before continuing, "Carmilla Karnstein, really? She has a really bad reputation Hollis, I've read that she sleeps with a different fan at each concert she gives."

"I'm NOT dating Carmilla Karnstein." Laura replied forcefully. "I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe that my friends are buying into this bullshit story from a gossip column. You guys were with me yesterday, do you remember seeing me holding hands with this punk girl or sharing heart-eyes with her? If you people who were actually there with me are believing in this article, the rest of the world is going to think Carmilla and I are getting married tomorrow."

When she finally stopped speaking there was silence on the other end of the line. LaFontaine was once again laughing at the absurdity of it all while watching Laura.

"Uhm, I'm sorry Laura. It's just that the picture…" Danny started, but was cut off by Laura.

"Is completely out of context and does not represent the facts described in that article."

"Okay, I believe you, but, what the hell happened then?"

Once again Laura told the whole true story, she was starting to get sick of talking about it. After making sure that Danny would let Kirsch know the truth before he also called her, she hung up her phone. She made LaFontaine promise to tell the truth to Perry too and stop her from getting so worried that it would result in her cleaning Laura's entire apartment, again.

She said goodbye to LaFontaine and left to go grocery shopping. As she went through the day, Laura stopped thinking about the infamous gossip article, certain that nothing else would come of it now that her friends knew the truth. There was no way that Sarah Jane person would find out her name, she was safe.

Maybe she relaxed a bit too early. By evening, she ordered a pizza and prepared to lie down in front of Netflix. When her food arrived she was suddenly reminded of the article when the delivery boy recognized her.

"Aren't you the girl who is dating Carmilla Karnstein? That is so rad, I'm a big fan of hers. Think you could get me an autograph?" The guy said.

Laura's faced morphed into pure rage. She took the pizza from the guy shoving the money at him and closing the door without saying a word. With her night ruined by this reminder of her appearance in the gossip column, Laura quickly ate her dinner and decided go to bed.

The next morning she woke up to the buzzing of her phone once again.

"Noooooo" she groaned as she grabbed it from her nightstand. Once again, she had a text from LaFontaine.

 **LaF** : Not that I like being the bearer of bad news, but I think you should check Sarah Jane's Twitter. She discovered your name.


	3. Chapter 3

Sarah Jane's Twitter reported that a a guy sent her a message saying that he delivered a pizza to the girl in the photograph with Carmilla and her name was Laura Hollis. Sarah Jane also said that the boy told her that she was very rude and closed the door on his face without saying a word. As if that wasn't bad enough, someone had taken pictures of Laura grocery shopping the previous day and posted them on Twitter tagging the rumormonger, who retweeted them to all of her 1.5 million followers.

Laura was furious. She had not only been falsely reported as a punk star's girlfriend, she was now being bad-mouthed on Twitter. She replied to Sarah Jane saying that she was not dating Carmilla, which proved to be a stupid mistake since the rumormonger broadcasted her Twitter handle and now she was getting non-stop messages from Carmilla's fans, either supporting the relationship or telling her how she was not good enough for their muse, mostly the later.

Laura spent the day holed up in her apartment, she was in a bad mood and didn't feel like being out in public, where she might be recognized by someone else. She called LaF and ranted about the lack of respect of this so called journalist that kept spreading these rumours without verifying the facts and how unprofessional the pizza boy had been to reveal her name, not to mention the paparazzi wannabe who invaded her privacy by taking pictures of her while she was unaware of it. Perry took the phone from LaFontaine and tried to calm Laura down a little bit. She suggested that she try to contact Carmilla's PR and ask them to release a statement declaring that she and Carmilla were not a couple. With that idea in mind, Laura was able to get a good night's sleep.

The next morning Laura woke up feeling so excited about her first day at work that not even her current unjustified fame could ruin her mood. When she arrived at the newspaper, her boss introduced her around and took her to her table. By mid-morning she received a bouquet of yellow poppies from her father, to congratulate her on getting her first job as a journalist. One of her co-workers, Natalie, approached her table to admire the flowers. She noticed that Natalie kept glancing at her after she went back to her table, but she chalked it up to a natural curiosity about the newcomer. During her lunch break, Laura quickly discovered the PR company that represented Carmilla and called.

"Belmonde Public Representation, Elsie speaking. How may I help you?"

"Huh, hello. My name is Laura, Laura Hollis. I'd like to speak with Carmilla Karnstein's PR, please."

"And you want me to believe that you really are emthe/emLaura Hollis? Why would emyou/em call the reception number if you were her? You'd call Matska directly, I'm sure." The receptionist answered.

"Look, I'm not dating Carmilla. I just want to ask that your company release a statement clarifying this whole situation, okay? Please, put me through with this Matska person so that we can solve this and you'll never hear from me again." Laura replied, starting to feel irritated again.

"Look honey, I don't know what newspaper or magazine you work for, but you won't get any information on Carmilla by pretending to be her girlfriend. Nice try!" Elsie replied in a bored voice and hang up.

Laura stared at her cell phone with her mouth hanging open. This is preposterous. How dare she talk to me like that? I just want to end this mess, why does it have to be so difficult? Why can't people just believe me when I say I am not dating Carmilla?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a Twitter notification on her phone. She had favorited Sarah Jane's Twitter so she could keep tabs on anything she posted about her. And sure enough, that was her least favorite person at the moment tweeting. When she opened it, Laura felt her jaw fall open for the second time in the last five minutes. Sarah Jane had just tweet a picture of the flower bouquet her father had sent to her with the words "Karnstein is proving to be a romantic after all. Look at the flowers she sent her lady love to welcome her into her new job this morning!"

Laura was livid. This was too much. She was done with it. And then she realized how she could end this ridiculousness once and for all. Running back to the newspaper she asked the receptionist which was Sarah Jane's room, since it had finally dawned on her that they worked at the same newspaper, albeit different departments. She would go and talk to her in person and end this whole business.

"Oh, she doesn't come into the office. She works from home and sends her articles by e-mail." Was the answer she got.

Not to be deterred, Laura went back to her desk and wrote Sarah Jane an e-mail addressed to her work e-mail address, which she had access to.

Dear Sarah Jane,

I'm Laura Hollis, who has joined this newspaper team today and whom you have been talking about on your gossip column and your Twitter. I'd like to clarify that I am not dating Carmilla Karnstein. That photograph that was sent to you was taken out of context, the only thing that happened is that I ran into her while she was getting out of the restaurant and I was getting in, nothing more. The flowers you reported as having been sent by her were from my father.

I'd like you to let your followers on Twitter and the readers of your column know that it was all a misunderstanding and that I am not dating Carmilla. I'd also like to ask that no pictures of my personal life be published on your Twitter anymore.

Certain of your comprehension,

Laura Hollis

Laura pressed the send button and breathed deeply to calm herself. That should do it.

When she left work that day, she called LaFontaine and updated them on the goings-on of her sudden fame. They suggested that they grab a drink at the Silas Bar to celebrated her soon to be reestablished anonymity. When she arrived LaFontaine and Perry were already at the bar and had got her a beer.

"Hello, Laura, dear. How was your first day at work?" Perry asked.

"It could have been better if I wasn't being a gossip victim of the very same newspaper I work for." She replied bitterly.

"Well, but now it will be over soon and you can go back to your gossip free life." LaF said, laughing a little bit at Laura's scrunched up face.

They had just a few drinks, since it was only Monday night and they had work the next day. Laura was exhausted when she got home, between starting at her first job and dealing with this ludicrous gossip situation, she felt drained. Well, LaF is right, it'll be over as soon as Sarah Jane publishes her correct information tomorrow and I can go back to my quiet life, was her last thought before falling asleep.

In what was becoming a nightmarish routine, Laura woke up to the buzzing of a new text message on her phone. Dreading whatever was written on the text, she unlocked her phone to find only two words sent by LaFontaine:

LaF: Paper, NOW.

Without changing out of her Doctor Who pajamas, Laura ran to her mailbox and opened the paper on the gossip column. There was a picture of her opening the door of Silas Bar the previous night and, in what could be only a very poor joke by fate, right behind her, Carmilla Karnstein was getting out of the back of a black car. How could I have not noticed her behind me? How could I have not seen her in the bar at all? This MUST be some sort of sick joke.

She moved her eyes to Sarah Jane's words.

"Our favorite couple had a rendezvous at a local bar last night

By Sarah Jane

Despite Laura Hollis' attempts to deny her relationship with the punk star Carmilla Kernstein, the two were seen together once again last night. As you can see on the photograph, Laura and Carmilla arrived at a local bar together, even though they tried to pretend otherwise by entering the place separately. We were informed that the bar they were at belongs to Karnstein's brother, Will Luce. Our fonts report that the two spent the night in a hidden booth, drinking and laughing together, without speaking to anyone else. According to witnesses, they left the bar together on Carmilla's car.

For instant news on Hollstein, the couple of the moment, follow me on Twitter."


	4. Chapter 4

Laura thought that she must have pissed off some ancient evil god who was now seeking revenge against her. What other explanation was there for such a bizarre and random series of coincidences? She had no idea that Carmilla had a brother and much less that he owned Silas Bar, or she would never have dared to go there. Everything was getting out of control and if she didn't do something soon she would either go crazy, or she would start believing that Carmilla and her were a couple indeed, which she thought was worse than going crazy. But what else could she do? No one, except her friends, believed her when she said she was not dating Carmilla. Sarah Jane's articles must be having a good repercussion for the newspaper if she was insisting in publishing these lies. She supposed that she could talk to her boss about it, but she didn't want to come off as being a troublesome employee on her very first week. She didn't know what to do to stop this barrage of lies.

To make matters worse, her dad called her during her lunch time that day after one of his colleagues had shown him the newspaper. He was initially very disappointed that she had chosen to hide the relationship from him, since she had never done this before. The hurt on his voice made Laura feel sick. She hated hurting him, even if it was totally unintentional like this time. After she explained the whole mess to him, he was somewhere between amused and furious. For the rest of the week, Laura did nothing but go to work and straight back home at the end of the day. Her friends tried to convince her to go out with them, but she refused. Instead, they visited her in her apartment where she could rant as much as she wanted without risking ending up on the gossip column again.

It was Saturday morning, one week after the whole fiasco started. Laura had finally decided to leave her apartment, she refused to stay one more day hidden because of a stupid false rumour about her and a certain punk star. During the days in which she hid away in her apartment, Laura had grown to dislike Carmilla to extraordinary proportions. Sure, she knew that it wasn't the woman's fault that all of this had started any more than it was her own fault. But Carmilla could have ended it on the same day it all begun simply by tweeting the truth to her millions of fans. Instead, there was radio silence from the singer.

Feeling like she deserved a good cup of hot cocoa and cookies, Laura decided to go to her favorite café in the city. It was a little bit out of her way, but it was worth it. She was sitting down with her delicious treats when her attention was caught by someone who had just entered the café. It was Carmilla. Without stopping to think about what she was doing, Laura stood up and pointed a finger accusingly at Carmilla, saying in a loud angry voice: "You".

Carmilla turned around from the counter to see that tiny ball of rage coming straight at her. Her eyes widened, because Laura looked scary despite her diminutive size. She pushed Carmilla to the wall behind her with her index finger poking at the girl's chest and let out all of her frustration.

"Who the hell do you think you are to mess up with my life like this? Do you have any idea what I've been going through in the last week? Why didn't you do something about these lies? I tried to contact your PR and Elsie refused to believe it was really me calling or that we were not dating. I couldn't even leave my apartment this week besides to go to work for fear of being accosted by some of your fans that don't seem very happy that we are supposedly dating. Can you please explain to me why you haven't done…"

At this point she was cut off by Carmilla, who, becoming aware of all the eyes in the café looking at them, finally snapped into action. She put one hand over Laura's mouth and held her waist with the other, directing her back to the table she was sitting at previously.

"Okay, okay, Cupcake. Calm down a bit, will you? Or we'll be in the front page of the newspaper tomorrow, not just the gossip column." She said in Laura's ears.

Once they were both seated at Laura's table, Carmilla continued speaking.

"Here Creampuff, I know that we got ourselves quite tangled up in this mess, but I'd appreciate it if you tried not to feed the fire. A scandal in public won't help our cause."

"Then let's go somewhere we can talk", Laura hissed.

"I can't right now." Carmilla answered and seeing that Laura was about to start speaking again, she raised her hand to silence her. "Come to my concert tonight, here, take this."

She took a VIP pass for the concert from her purse and handed it to Laura.

"This will allow you to come backstage once the concert is over. We can talk then, I need to go now."

Without waiting for Laura to answer, Carmilla got up and, grabbing her to go cup from the counter, she left.

"So, let me see if I got this right." Danny said, pacing in Laura's living room while she and LaFontaine watched from the sofa and Perry looked over from the kitchen where she was cleaning all of Laura's cupboards.

"You saw her again at a café and confronted her. Someone obviously recognized you two and, once again, your pictures are all over Twitter and that Sarah Jane is saying you two had a huge fight." She stopped in front of Laura, looking in her eyes before continuing.

"And yet, you're planning on going alone to this concert tonight where a mob of angry punks may recognize you and decide to punish you for, first, dating their muse, second, breaking up with her. Is that correct?"

"Yes, pretty much so." Laura said defensively.

"I won't let you go." Danny replied, crossing her arms.

"It's not you place to let or not let me go, Danny. I need to talk to Carmilla so that we can deal with this situation. I will be fine. I can take care of myself."

"Clearly" Danny scoffed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Laura replied getting up from the sofa.

"God Laura, you say you can take care of yourself, but look at the mess you've got yourself into." The tall ginger replied.

"Hey, this isn't fair Danny." LaFontaine interfered "None of this mess is Laura's fault. I actually think she's been dealing with it pretty well. She can handle herself, we don't need to step in to save her."

Danny looked between them, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

"Yeah, you are right. I'm sorry Hollis, I just, I'm just worried, that's all."

"Well, you don't need to be, everything will be fine. Now, if you'll let me, I'll take a shower and start getting ready to go." Laura replied, already forgiving her friend.

"Good luck, L" LaFontaine said as they were leaving.

"Thanks, LaF" Laura grinned at them.

"Make sure to drink only from your own water bottle Laura, it's very important that you keep safe. We don't want you drinking a spiked drink" Perry told her.

"Yes, mom" Laura replied with a giggle at Perry's mothering.

"Hollis, good luck." Danny said quietly.

"Thanks Danny."

After they had all left, Laura started getting ready to go. She had a few things she wanted to say to Carmilla and she couldn't wait for the chance to do it. The way Laura saw it, the punk star was the origin of all the problems and the fact that she didn't seem interested in ended this mess had Laura burning with rage and she would make sure Carmilla Karnstein knew that. She was Laura Hollis, after all, and she would girl the hell up and end this ridiculous mayhem.


	5. Chapter 5

When Laura got out of the cab she'd taken to the concert venue the first thing she felt was dismay. She had hoped she would be able to pass off as just one more fan in the crowd, but she realized her mistake now. This was a punk concert full of teenagers wearing black, her light blue jeans and yellow button up made her look like a lighthouse in the middle of the ocean during a storm. That feeling, however, was quickly replaced by a mixture of anger and fear. A paparazzo had recognized her and was now snapping pictures while telling her to smile to the camera. This called people's attention to her and she suddenly found herself surrounded by Carmilla's fans wanting to talk to her, or perchance, possibly murder her. For a moment she thought that maybe Danny had been right and she shouldn't have come alone. But then the crowd started parting and she saw two enormous men coming in her of them grabbed her arm, with a surprisingly gentle grip, while the other stood behind her glaring at people.

"Come with us, please, Miss Hollis", said the one who was holding her arm as he started to guide her safely away from the mob.

They guided her to a side door and she entered the venue with the security guard that had a grip on her arm while the other stayed behind to guard the entrance. He let go of her once they were inside and started to direct her through a corridor.

"Miss Karnstein told us to watch out for your arrival and make sure you were safely escorted inside. You'll be in the front, along with the security guards, and some staff from production. I'll escort you backstage once the concert is over. My name is Oliver." He told her.

"Nice to meet you Oliver, thank you so much for your help out there." Laura told him sincerely, she liked this guy.

"No problem, Miss Hollis. I was just doing my job."

They went through a side door that led directly to a reserved area in front of the right side of the stage. Two men and a woman were there, wearing VIP passes just like Laura's around their necks. Oliver took his place beside the door and Laura stood awkwardly observing the others. One of the men had a camera on his hands and was taking test shots of the stage. The woman was sitting on a chair with a notepad on her lap; she was clearly a journalist who would probably be writing a review of the concert. Even though Laura was a journalist herself, she couldn't help but feel a small dislike for the woman, Sarah Jane had sure made her afraid of running into more "journalists" like her. The other man was talking on his phone, until he turned and saw Laura standing there, his smile was predatory and he quickly hang up the call in order to talk to Laura.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the one and only Laura Hollis herself." He extended his hand to her, "I'm Will Luce, Carmilla's brother."

"Nice to meet you, Will", Laura said, shaking his hand.

"I've heard you've been to my bar this week. You should have let me know, I'd have gotten you and your friends a round of drinks on the house in the name of your, uhu, relationship with my sister." He said smirking at her.

Laura glared at him but was stopped from answering by the woman who turned around and said loudly:

"Oh my God, you're Karnstein's girlfriend. It's such a pleasure to meet you, Miss Hollis." She stood up and offered Laura her hand.

Laura's hands balled into fists and she stared angrily at the woman.

"Once and for all, I am NOT" she was cut off by Will's hand on her mouth. What is it with these siblings and shutting me up with their own hands? Laura thought crossly.

Will glared at the woman and told her in a firm voice:

"No comments about my sister's personal life. You'd do well to remember you're here to write a review of the concert, nothing else. You better not write a word about Laura."

The woman gulped and quickly sat back down, busying herself with her let go of Laura and told her in a low voice.

"Don't say a word about anything to the press. My sister will not like that at all."

"I don't care what your sister likes or doesn't like. I want my life back and the only way to get that is by telling the truth." Laura hissed.

"Trust me, talking about my sister's personal life to the press will make your life such a hell, you'd be missing the little trouble you're having right now. Wait until you talk to Carmilla about all of this. She knows you're already here, I was with her on the phone when you arrived. She'll talk to you after the concert. But until then, keep your words to yourself." Will wasn't rude, but his tone was firm and Laura knew at once that she should not mess with him.

She sat down at a chair grumply and crossed her arms over her chest, like a small child who was denied sweets before dinner. She wished she had never realized she had forgotten her jacket at the restaurant. Hell, at this point, she was wishing she had not been able to get the job at the newspaper so she would never even have been at that restaurant to begin with. Laura sat there, her face scrunched up until it was time for the concert to start.

When Carmilla finally got on stage the crowd went crazy, they jumped and shouted and sang along. Laura observed this in amazement, she couldn't deny that Carmilla had a great stage presence, it was impossible to take your eyes off her. When the first song ended, the punk star greeted her fans and Laura found herself even more enthralled.

"Hello everyone, how are you doing tonight?" She shouted into the microphone. The crowd answered with excited shouts.

"I hope you're all ready for an amazing night. You're getting to see me, after all." She smirked, all self-confidence and smugness. She knew the effect she had on everyone, standing there on leather pants, see-through black top, black hair flowing around her in gentle curls, playing the guitar and singing with that impossibly sexy voice. Laura thought she was too full of herself, but couldn't deny that she had good reason to be.

Laura was surprised to discover that she was actually enjoying the concert. She never liked punk rock much, she was more a Top 40 hits kind of girl. However, Carmilla was very talented both as a singer and as a guitar player, she had command over the audience and her voice could make anyone enjoy whatever she was singing.

As Carmilla sang song after song, Laura found her anger at the girl diminishing. It wasn't her fault after all that they had ended up in this ludicrous situation. They would talk, and Laura would be nice to her and everything would be over soon. Not long after coming to this conclusion, Laura's feelings went in the completely opposite direction again. That's because Carmilla had a little surprise for her right before she played the last song of the day.

"This is the last song for tonight guys. Thank you for coming out to see me, or you can thank me for letting you see me" she smirked "I'd like to do something today I've never done before though, I want to dedicate this last song to the Cupcake." Carmilla finished and winked at Laura, the fans that were close by the reserved area soon had their phones out, filming Carmilla playing the song right in front of Laura with her eyes locked on her and her trademark smirk playing on her lips.

Laura stood petrified, she could only hear the noise of the crowd and Carmilla's guitar, but then the words of the song started making their way into her brain.

 _"I want a kiss wet and real - strong love_

 _I wanna tell you how I feel - right now_

 _All night long it rained and rained - my love_

 _Make me scream hey what's your name?_

 _We lovers never say goodbye_

 _We lovers never die_

 _We stop and go so quietly_

 _Cold lovers fade away"_

That was it. Laura Hollis would once again be in the newspapers the following day, but this time it wouldn't be in the gossip section, it would be in the crime's section because she was going to murder Carmilla Karnstein with her own bare hands.

Song mentioned in this chapter: Lovers - The Runaways


	6. Chapter 6

Laura was standing in front of the closed door of Carmilla's dressing room. Oliver had just escorted her there after the concert ended. He knocked and they heard Carmilla calling from inside for them to come in. The bodyguard opened the door and motioned for Laura to go in first. When she entered Carmilla was standing in the middle of the room using a towel to dry her face, when she finally looked up, Carmilla smirked at Laura before turning to Oliver.

"You can leave us alone Oliver, make sure no one, and I mean no one interrupts us."

"Of course, Miss Karnstein. Excuse me." He said and left, closing the door behind him.

"Well Cupcake, what did you think of the concert? Did you enjoy it?" Carmilla grinned with a mischievous look in her eyes. Laura didn't miss a beat.

"What the frilly hell do you think you're doing? How dare you call attention to me during your concert? I thought you didn't want to feed the fire of this gossip?" She said angrily, her hands balled into fists at her sides, while she walked towards Carmilla trying to look imposing and threatening. Before she could continue Carmilla smirked at her again.

"Relax, Buttercup. It was just a song, have a little fun, will you?" Carmilla said in her raspy and aloof voice.

"Just a song? JUST A SONG? That wasn't just a song. That was basically the same as telling everyone in there that we're sleeping together. And I will…"

What Laura would do, Carmilla wouldn't know because at that moment, Laura slipped on the towel that Carmilla had been using and had dropped to the floor after drying her face. Laura fell forward right into Carmilla, who tried, once again, to keep them upright, but didn't manage it this time. They fell together, landing with a thud as Carmilla's head hit the floor and she grunted as Laura fell on top of her.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" Laura said. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt? Did you break anything?"

"Slow down there, Cutie. I need a minute." Carmilla said with a grimace, her eyes closed; she would get a pretty nasty bump on the head.

Laura was suddenly aware of how close they were. Carmilla's face was just a couple of inches away from hers. Her eyes roamed the girl's features, taking in her white skin that looked so soft, her jawline that could probably cut diamonds, and her soft lips that always looked so inviting. Carmilla opened her eyes and Laura felt heat rush to her face, she hoped, rather than believed, that she didn't look like a tomato right now.

"Enjoying your position there, Cupcake?" Carmilla said, her voice low and seductive.

Laura suddenly became aware that she was on top of Carmilla, with one of her legs pressed between the dark haired girl's legs. Her eyes widened and she awkwardly scrambled up to her feet and extended a hand to help Carmilla up.

"Sorry." She mumbled.

"It's alright, Cutie. I can't say I don't enjoy having a pretty girl on top of me." Carmilla said, winking at Laura and massaging the lump in the back of her head at the same time. Laura squirmed at that and Carmilla chuckled, it was just too easy to discompose this girl. "Besides, it was my fault for letting the towel on the floor."

"Yes, it was your fault." Laura said angrily after regaining her ability to think after being so close to Carmilla.

"That little bunched up face you make when you're angry is hilarious Buttercup." Carmilla laughed at her. "Now, to business" she continued.

She turned around to open a small mini fridge and took out two bottles of beer, opening them and offering one to Laura, who accepted it silently. The singer sat on the sofa.

"So, about this gossip business you wanted to talk about it, right?"

"Yes." Laura said, sitting on the sofa as far away from Carmilla as possible. "Can you please tell me why the frilly hell you haven't put a stop to it yet? I have tried to tell people it was just a misunderstanding but no one will believe me. So here is what I want you to do: you'll get your PR to release a statement explaining that we have never dated, hell, that we don't even really know each other and all of this gossip was just a misconstruction of that first photograph by the media." Laura finished with a commanding tone and took a sip of her beer.

"That won't be possible, sweetheart." Carmilla replied, her tone indifferent.

"WHAT?"

"I don't make statements about my personal _Never_ /." Carmilla said, her tone suddenly serious while she looked Laura in the eyes.

Something about Carmilla's tone and the fact that her body had stiffened alerted Laura that there was probably some history there, something that happened in the past and made Carmilla wary of talking about her personal life. But being who she was, Laura couldn't let it go that easily.

"You will do it because this isn't just about _your_ life, it's about mine too and I'd like to have it back."

"Look Cutie, even if we said that it was a misunderstanding, do you really think people will believe it?" Carmilla sounded angry, and Laura's eyes widened as the girl got up and stood in front of her. "You're naive if you think that the media care about us. All they want is to make money, it doesn't matter who they hurt in the process. Right now, we, as a couple, is what is giving them money. If we tell the truth they'll just twist it to their own benefits and we may end up losing more than we bargained for. Do you think saying the truth will get your life back? Do you think they'll simply print in the newspaper that we were never really a couple and forget about it? They'll come up with some sickening story about how I broke your precious little heart, or how you were only with me for my money. They'll dissect our _relationship_ in the news to make as much money as they can. People love the dramatic love life of the famous. _Get it?_ "

She turned away from a stunned Laura and sat down at the chair by her dressing table, her head low, elbows resting on her thighs and the beer bottle in between her hands. For some reason she couldn't understand, Laura felt bad for Carmilla at that moment. She'd had to live with being in the gossip column for a week and she was already fed up, imagine Carmilla who had to tolerate that for years. She took a deep breath before she spoke again, her voice calmer.

"What do you suggest we do then?"

"We should just wait for them to get bored with us. Trust me, it won't be that long. Soon enough someone is going to get divorced, or the parents of a child star will begin fighting for the money, whatever, they'll forget about us soon." Carmilla said with a sneer.

Laura weighed her options. She really wanted to put the truth out there, but Carmilla was probably right. No one would believe them if they explained what really happened, especially because they were caught in the same situation twice. People did love the drama and they had become the darlings of the media in the last week. The truth was not really important for people like Sarah Jane, all they wanted was the money and the audience. Coming to a decision, Laura spoke again.

"Okay. I agree to wait a little bit to see if this will end on its own." Carmilla looked up at her again, and she continued. " _But_ , you have to promise me not pull another stunt like that song again. _And_ if this somehow threatens my job, I'll speak the truth. There's no way in hell or Hogwarts that I'll let this jeopardize my career."

"Okay, okay" Carmilla said putting her hands up in surrender "We have a deal."

"Good."

They stared at each other until Laura felt herself starting to blush again. _Why does she have to be so attractive?_

"I should, uh, I should go." She said awkwardly. She stood up gave her bottle of beer to Carmilla, turning and walking towards the door. Before she could open it, Carmilla spoke to her again.

"Hey Cupcake. How are you getting home?"

"I'll take a cab." She said, confused as to why Carmilla would want to know that.

"Hold on there a minute then. I'll give you a ride. I just need to grab my stuff." She said, getting up and putting a few things in a backpack and picking up her guitar case.

"You don't need to do this. I can just take a cab and I'll be home soon." She said, feeling the heat rushing once again to her face. _How does she make me blush so easily?_

"Come on, Creampuff. I gotta make sure my girl gets home safely." She smirked.

And _there_ was the real Carmilla back, Laura thought rolling her eyes, but grinning at the other girl.

When they opened the door Oliver was standing at the other side, making sure no one interrupted them.

"I'm ready to go Oliver. We'll take Laura home first." She told him.

Oliver nodded and started guiding them out of the venue.

Laura followed in a daze. Hearing her name coming out from Carmilla's mouth for the first time gave her butterflies in the stomach, and she didn't like that. No, she didn't like that _at all_.


	7. Chapter 7

The car ride started in silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable, to Laura's surprise. She had given her address to Oliver before he opened the rear door of the car for her and Carmilla to enter. The punk star sat staring out of the window, she seemed to be far away. Laura sat staring at the punk star. She just couldn't help herself, her eyes kept going back to the dark haired girl. That is, until Carmilla turned and caught her looking, she quickly turned her eyes to the window, her face flushing. She heard the singer chuckle and decided it was time for some conversation.

"So…" she started, unsure of what to say.

"So." Carmilla answered with a smirk.

Laura cleared her throat before trying again.

"Um, do you always find yourself almost married in the public eye to girls that accidentally stumble into you?"

Carmilla laughed at that, and Laura felt the butterflies come alive once again in her stomach.

"No, Cupcake. You're the only one."

"Hum, I'm really special then, huh?"

Carmilla chucked and shook her head, this girl was just too adorable for her own good.

"Why don't you tell me about yourself, Creampuff?"

"You do remember that my name is Laura, right?"

"Of course I do, Buttercup!" She smiled broadly at honey blonde girl.

Laura huffed and decided that it was not worth trying to get Carmilla to call her by her name, although she did wish she could hear the singer say her name again, it sounded different, like no one else have ever said it before.

"There's not much to tell. I grew up in a small town not too far from here. I moved here to go to college and decided to stay after graduating, which proved to be the right decision since I got a job in the newspaper right after graduation." She said, with a shrug. She imagined her life story would probably be very boring for someone like Carmilla.

"That's it?" Carmilla said, raising her eyebrows at Laura.

"Well, yeah, I don't know what else to say. What more do you want to know?" Laura said, fidgeting with her fingers.

"You can tell me, for example, what you were doing at that restaurant the day we met. Were you on a date?" Carmilla said wiggling her eyebrows and chucking at Laura's renewed blush.

"No, no date. I was with my friends celebrating my new job. We've been friends since my freshman year. Perry was my floor don and she introduced me to LaFontaine. They weren't together back then, but they are now. Perry is like a mama bear, but I don't mind her too much, she knows when to back off. And LaFontaine is a crazy scientist, never eat anything they give you without double checking it is safe; they like to make experiments on unsuspecting victims. And Danny and I met in my Lit class, when she was my TA and Kirsch was in the same class. But they weren't together back then either. They actually kinda hated each other, I think they kind of hate each other yet? I don't know, I'll never understand the dynamics of their relationship." Laura stopped when the lack of oxygen made it impossible to keep going and then, seeing the amused look on Carmilla's face she blushed once again.

"I'm sorry. I was rambling. My dad always says I don't know when to stop talking, which he can't really say anything about because I learned it from… sorry, I was doing it again." She huffed and turned to the window, feeling embarrassed.

"Don't worry, Creampuff, I think your rambling is adorable. You're adorable."

Laura turned back to her.

"Thanks?" She said scrunching up her nose.

Carmilla laughed again and Laura thought she didn't quite mind making a fool of herself if it meant she could hear Carmilla's laughter. They rode the rest of the way in silence, Laura uncomfortably aware that now it was Carmilla who seemed not to be able to stop looking at her.

When they arrived at her place Oliver opened the door for Laura, she turned back to Carmilla before getting out of the car.

"Thanks for the ride, Carmilla. I hope you're right about this whole gossip business ending on its own soon."

Carmilla nodded at her and Laura left. When she was closing the door of her apartment building, she heard Carmilla calling her.

"Cupcake, wait!" She said, running to meet Laura by the door. She handed her a piece of paper with a phone number written on it in an elegant hand.

"I hope it doesn't come to this. But if you start having trouble with the media and paparazzi, give me a call and I'll take care of it."

Laura looked at the paper in her hands and then back at the girl standing in front of her, seemly a bit anxious.

"This is oddly considerate, coming from you." She said.

"Don't get used to it, Sweetpie." Said Carmilla, regaining her disaffected air. She turned around and left without another word. Laura watched her until the car turned on the corner and was out of sight.

The ringing of the bell woke Laura up the next day. Groaning she got up to open the door, not caring to get out of her pajamas. If someone was daring to knock at her door so early on a Sunday they would have to be content being greeted by her disheveled self. When she opened the door, Danny entered the apartment like a whirlwind, Kirsch came behind looking embarrassed.

"Sorry little nerd, I couldn't stop her." He said apologetically.

"It's alright Kirsch." She answered with a yawn, closing the door and turning around to look at Danny who was pacing on her living room. The tall redhead stopped and put up a page of the newspaper that Laura could see had new pictures of her and Carmilla.

"Can you please explain em _this_ /em to me?" Danny said angrily, "And em _this_ /em?" She said shoving her phone at Laura after pressing play on a video.

Laura's eyes eyes widened. It was a recording of Carmilla playing the song she "dedicated" to Laura. The person who shot it must have been right behind the reserved area because they managed to capture not only Carmilla on stage, but also Lara standing petrified looking at the singer.

"Damn you Carmilla." She said, under her breath.

She picked up the newspaper to read while Danny started pacing once more.

" _ **Laura Hollis attends Carmilla Karnstein's Concert**_

 _It seems like our favorite couple has decided to stop hiding their relationship. Last night, Laura Hollis was seen at Carmilla Karnstein's concert. After causing a bit of commotion with her sudden arrival amidst the punk star's fans, Hollis was escorted inside by the singer's bodyguards. According to witnesses, she watched the concert from the area reserved for staff and press where she spent some time talking with Karnstein's brother, Will Luce._

 _The biggest surprise, however, happened at the end of the concert, when Karnstein dedicated the last song called "Lovers" to her lady love (you can see the video on YouTube, just search for Hollstein). The two left the venue together in Karnstein's car, as you can see in the photograph below._

 _Don't miss any news about Hollstein, follow me on Twitter."_

Laura looked at the photographs, there was one taken by the first paparazzo who recognized her when she had arrived at the venue the previous night. She looked like a deer caught in headlights and she wished they had at least chosen a better picture to publish. The other photo was of her and Carmilla beside the car while Oliver opened the door for them. _How are they even taken these pictures without either of us noticing?_ In hindsight, she realized what a bad idea it had been to accept Carmilla's offer of a ride, but she had honestly thought that no one else would be around to see them by the time they left.

"So?" Danny said, reminding her she was not alone. "Didn't you go to that concert last night to put an end to this? How come there's not only a new piece on the newspaper with a photo of you two getting in the same car, but also a video, a _video_ of that woman singing a song like that for you?" She finished angrily.

"Look Danny," Laura started tiredly, she really didn't need to deal with this right now, "Carmilla and I talked and we agreed to wait it out for a little bit. Some bigger scandal is bound to happen any time and people will forget about us. As for the song, it was just a joke and I made Carmilla promise not to do anything like that again."

"Wait a minute" Danny said in a dangerously low voice "You're telling me that Carmilla won't make a statement telling everyone the truth? You are going to let this gossip keep going until it ends on its own?"

"Yes, Danny, that's exactly it. Carmilla doesn't like making statements about her personal life."

"To hell with what she likes or doesn't like. She em _will/em_ make a statement and clean your name."

"Danny, Carmilla and I have discussed this and I agreed to do it her way." Laura said, starting to get pissed off at her friend's interference.

"I won't let you allow your name to be dragged down with this woman. I'll go talk to her myself and I'll make her explain the truth."

Laura felt anger bubbling inside of her. There was nothing she hated more than when her dad or her friends assumed that they knew what was good for her better than she knew it herself. She was a goddamn adult and she could make her own decisions about her life.

"You'll do nothing of the sort," she started, her voice trembling with rage, "as I said, Carmilla and I have talked and come to an agreement, which I intend to honor. This decision is mine and hers, no one else's. I don't need you to tell me what to do, I can take care of myself just fine."

Danny swallowed, her face contorted with displeasure.

"Fine then, do what you want. But don't come to me when this becomes more than you can handle." She said, storming out of the apartment.

Kirsch looked at Laura wide eyed, he hated it when Danny and Laura fought like this.

"I'm sorry about her Laura," he said, getting up to follow his girlfriend "I'll talk to her."

"No, it's okay Kirsch. Let her be. She'll calm down soon enough."

"Okay, but, just so you know, I'm with you in this." He said, giving her a hug that almost crushed her bones and leaving the apartment.

Laura turned on her notebook and watched the video of Carmilla singing for her again. Now that she wasn't in a state of shock at what was happening she could appreciate the joke, and Carmilla's husky voice, and her leather pants, and her see-through black top. Laura shook herself out of her dazed state and picked up her phone to send a quick text.

 **07:58** **Unknown number:** Your little joke has 500.000 views on YouTube. I'm starting to think maybe I should actually sue you.

 **08:02** **Broody singer:** Seriously Cupcake? Have you seen what time it is? I should be the one suing you for sending texts at an ungodly hour like this.

 **08:06** **Annoying Cupcake:** Rise and shine! There's a beautiful day out there just waiting for you. But please, don't cross my path today. :)

 **08:08** **Broody singer:** Don't worry cutie, wasn't planning on getting out of bed at all. I'm turning off my phone.

 **08:09** **Annoying Cupcake:** Rude! And I can't believe you'll really waste your entire day in bed.

 **08:10** **Broody singer:** Well, if you were in here with me it wouldn't be a wasted day, would it? What do you say? ;)

Laura choked on the hot cocoa she had just made herself and felt her face heat with a blush. _Damn, how can this woman manage to make me blush like this when she's not even near me?_

Deciding that that last text didn't deserve an answer, Laura started getting ready for her day, a song she'd only listened to for the first time the day before leaving her lips in a quiet humming.


	8. Chapter 8

It had been three weeks since Laura attended Carmilla's concert and so far no new piece of gossip about them had made its way into the newspapers or Sarah Jane's Twitter. It might be that the only reason for this was the fact that Carmilla was travelling on a small tour before she stopped to record her new album, so Laura was being cautiously optimistic about the end of her "fame".

She and Carmilla were now texting each other on a regular base. After their first exchange of messages, Laura decided to send Carmilla a new text each morning to inform her that they had not been featured in the newspaper that day. Carmilla, of course, thought that this was a hideous routine and accused Laura of seeking revenge against her for the song in the form of these disturbingly early texts.

 **07:43 Annoying Cupcake:** Good morning! I'm glad to report that we are not in the newspaper today YAY!

 **07:45** **Broody singer:** You must be kidding me. Why did you feel the need to wake me up for that?

 **07:48 Annoying Cupcake:** Oh, come on. This is a huge victory for us :D

 **07:55** **Broody singer:** Pleeeaaase, let me sleep.

 **08:03 Annoying Cupcake:** Okay, okay. Go back to sleep, you broody singer.

 **07:48 Annoying Cupcake:** Day #5 without any gossip about us *happy dance*

 **07:59** **Broody singer:** Is this your twisted way to get revenge from me about the song?

 **08:03 Vengeful Cupcake:** Lol, no, but that's not a bad idea.

 **08:05** **Broody singer:** What do I have to do for you to stop?

 **08:06 Vengeful Cupcake:** Nah, I don't want to stop. I'm having way too much fun. 3:‑) Besides, I'm doing you a favor in waking you up. More time for you to enjoy the sun!

 **08:07** **Broody singer:** I hate the sun.

 **08:09 Vengeful Cupcake:** Are you secretly a vampire? :‑o

 **07:43 Vengeful Cupcake:** Day #7 without any gossip about us :-)) What's your favorite color?

 **07:48 Vampy Carm:** Besides waking me up you want to play 20 questions now?

 **07:50 Vengeful Cupcake:** Come on, just answer the question. Mine is yellow.

 **07:53 Vampy Carm:** Black. Can I go back to sleep now?

 **07:53 Vengeful Cupcake:** Day #10 without any gossip about us! We should celebrate this!

 **07:55 Vampy Carm:** Yes, let's celebrate in bed!

 **07:57 Vengeful Cupcake:** Oh my God, you're awful.

 **07:58 Vampy Carm:** What? I only meant we should sleep in, each of us on our own beds. Not my fault your mind went the other way, Creampuff ;)

 **10:30 Vengeful Cupcake:** Do you prefer milk chocolate or dark chocolate?

 **10:33 Vampy Carm:** Why are you asking me these things? Dark chocolate.

 **10:34 Vengeful Cupcake:** I should have known xD I prefer milk chocolate.

 **10:39 Vampy Carm:** Great surprise there cutie. Someone who eats as many cookies as you was bound to like the sweetest chocolate that can be found. And why are we talking about this again?

 **10:45 Vengeful Cupcake:** Oh, I was just buying myself some chocolate and thought I'd ask. You know, so we can keep getting to know each other. And I don't eat that many cookies. :(

 **10:46 Vampy Carm:** Of course, because getting to know all about your fake girlfriend is really important.

 **10:48 Vengeful Cupcake:** Exactly!

 **10:49 Vampy Carm:** And don't fool yourself, Cupcake, I know you eat way too many cookies.

 **10:49 Vampy Carm:** I'm just eating a cookie, what's your toothpaste brand? / Carmilla, have you ever gone bungee jumping? These cookies are delicious! / Hike or bike? Do you want a cookie?

 **10:52 Sweet Tooth Cupcake:** You made your point. :‑(

 **07:45 Dork Cupcake:** Good morning, creepy vampire! It's day #16 of our gossip free life.

 **07:48 Philosopher Carm:** You seriously have to stop doing this. You're disturbing my beauty sleep.

 **07:53 Dork Cupcake:** as if you need any. Not my fault you're a vampire allergic to sunlight! Have you seen how beautiful the day is?

 **07:58 Philosopher Carm:** So, I don't need any beauty sleep, is that right Creampuff? :smirk:

 **08:05 Dork Cupcake:** Oh my God, full of yourself much?

 **08:06 Philosopher Carm:** you said it cutie, not me ;)

 **09:40 Philosopher Carm:** Cupcake?

 **09:45 Dork Cupcake:** Caaarm! I was sleeping.

 **09:46 Philosopher Carm:** It's past 9, Sweetheart. Is everything okay? You haven't missed waking me up early a single day.

 **09:47 Dork Cupcake:** Yeah, I just went to bed really late last night.

 **09:48 Philosopher Carm:** What were you up to, Cutie? Are you cheating on me? *smirk*

 **09:58 Philosopher Carm:** Cutie?

 **09:58 Philosopher Carm:** It was just a joke, Buttercup. Come on, talk to me.

 **10:02 Dork Cupcake:** Sorry. I was getting the newspaper aannnnd

 **10:02 Dork Cupcake:** It's day #19 of our gossip free life. :'‑)

 **10:03 Dork Cupcake:** And for your information, not that I owe you any explanation, I was up late marathoning the Harry Potter movies.

 **10:04 Philosopher Carm:** Ah, there she is. My dork Cupcake is back!

 **10:02 Dork Cupcake:** Shut up! You're as much of a dork as I am. You can't fool me!

 **10:04 Dork Carm:** You're delusional, Cupcake! I have to run now. I have an interview in a radio station in 30 min! I don't know why they put me in the morning show

 **10:02 Delusional Cupcake:** Good luck Carm! Don't bite the head off the poor host! ;)

 **06:50 Adorkable Cupcake:** Day #20! I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I went to your concert!

 **06:52 Softie Carm:** Jesus, Cupcake. Did you fall out of bed? You're earlier than usual. Have some compassion, please.

 **08:00 Adorkable Cupcake:** Carm! Wake up! I let you sleep for another hour, time to greet the day!

 **08:02 Softie Carm:** Nononono….. You are killing me Hollis. Quite literally killing me.

 **08:03 Adorkable Cupcake:** Aww, you're so charming Carmilla!

 **19:34 Softie Carm:** Hey Cupcake. Need your help.

 **19:35 Softie Carm:** Should I wear this or… [image]

 **19:38 Softie Carm:** this? [image]

Laura stared at the pictures in her phone for quite a few minutes, her mouth hanging open. Carmilla had sent her two selfies. In the first, she was wearing her leather pants with a red top that hugged her in all the right places. In the second she was also wearing the leather pants but with a black corset which _wow_.

 **19:43 Softie Carm:** Cupcake? What shall it be?

Laura snapped out of her daze long enough to text Carmilla back.

 **19:44 Adorkable Cupcake:** The corset for sure… which, by the way, wow…

 **19:48 Softie Carm:** Thanks for the help Cutie! Try not to spend the rest of the night looking at this photo ;) [image]

Carmilla sent another self wearing the corset, her eyebrows raised and a smirk playing on her lips. Laura gulped and tried to take her eyes away from the image, she succeeded for all of 10 seconds.

This was a new development in their interactions. So far they had exchanged only text messages, never photos. Laura wasn't sure what this meant for their friendship, if she could call it that. But she wasn't about to complain if Carmilla wanted to send her selfies.

In the three weeks that had passed after the concert, they had gotten to know each other through the hundreds of text messages they exchanged. In the beginning, it was always Laura who started their conversations, sometimes having to almost coerce Carmilla into participating. After some time though, Carmilla started to text Laura even when she hadn't texted first and Laura no longer had to almost beg her to answer.

And now Carmilla was asking her for help to decide what to wear for a concert. Laura grinned. If someone had told her one month ago that she would become friends with Carmilla Karnstein she would have laughed at them. But now, looking back at all the messages they had exchanged in the last three weeks, Laura could say that she enjoyed talking to Carmilla and she really wanted to be her friend. And although she liked to pretend otherwise, Laura knew that Carmilla enjoyed their friendship too.


	9. Chapter 9

After their fight on the day following Carmilla's concert, Laura and Danny had not talked to each other. Deciding to extend the olive branch and end this silly fight, Laura asked Danny to meet her for pie after work on a Wednesday.

"Hey Hollis, how are you?" Danny said, joining Laura at her booth.

"Hey Danny! I'm fine. How are you?"

"I'm fine too." She answered.

They were interrupted by the waiter that came to take their orders. When he left, there was a brief uncomfortable silence until Danny started speaking.

"Look, Laur, I'm sorry about that day. I think I overreacted, and it wasn't really my place to tell you what to do. It's just that I worry about you."

"It's okay Danny. But really, you can't go on trying to tell me what to do with my life. I can take care of myself. I'm an adult and I'm entitled to make my own choices."

"You're right, I'm sorry." Danny said, looking down at her hands at the table.

"Hey" Laura took Danny's hands in hers so that she would look up again. "I appreciate that you worry about me and want to take care of me, really, I do. But I already have a dad to do that. You don't have to do it too. Just being my friend and supporting me and helping em _if_ /em I ask for help is more than enough."

Danny smiled at that and got up from the booth, putting Laura up too and giving her a bone-crushing hug. Laura disentangled herself from her friend laughing.

"You and Kirsch really need to stop with these hugs before you send me to the hospital." She said.

Danny just grinned at her and they sat back down to eat their pies that the waiter had just brought over.

"So, I've noticed a lack of news about you on the newspaper. Seems like punk girl was right, after all." The tall ginger said.

"Yes, although I'm not sure it's really over yet."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, she is on tour so the universe didn't really have any chance to play another trick on us these last few weeks. I don't know what will happen when Carm is back." Laura said.

"Carm?" Danny questioned, eyebrows raised. "What? Are you friends with her now?" She said, her voice had an edge to it that brought Laura's defenses back up.

"Yes, I am her friend. We've been talking, or rather, texting. She is a really nice person."

Danny snorted.

"Nice? Come on, Laura. That girl has "trouble" written on her face. Didn't you google her? Didn't you read about what happened with her ex…"

Laura cut Danny off at this point.

"Stop right there Danny." She said angrily. "We've just talked about this and you're doing it again. Don't tell me who to be friends with, you don't know Carmilla so don't judge her."

"But Laura, she is not a good person, it was all over the news…"

"No" Laura said, putting her hands up to stall Danny. "I don't want to know. You know how I hate gossip and I think that what happened to me should serve us as an example not to believe what we read in gossip columns. I don't want to know what they published about her, if she wants to tell me about it, she will. I want to learn about her and her life from her, no one else." She stopped to take a deep breath. "You know I'm a curious person Danny, I didn't become a journalist by chance. But I have my values and I believe in speaking the truth to people, and that's not what usually happens when it comes to gossip."

"You're right, Laura. I'm sorry. If you say she is actually a nice person, I believe it." Danny said, properly chastised.

Laura nodded and they continue eating their pie and talking about anything but Carmilla Karnstein.

It was Saturday night, four weeks after Laura attended Carmilla's concert. The journalist was once again in her bed with Netflix opened on her notebook, marathoning Doctor Who. She and Carmilla had texted in the morning like they did every day. However, when Laura tried to text the singer in the afternoon, she didn't get any answer. She was constantly checking her phone for a new message, it was unlike Carmilla to go without answering her for so long. She wondered if she had said something that she shouldn't, if her insistence in getting to know the other girl had finally been too much. She opened their last messages to see if she had put her foot in her mouth.

 **07:52 Adorkable Cupcake:** Carm! Day number #27! Can you believe it?

 **07:58 Softie Carm:** I can believe that, what I can't believe is that you're still waking me up way too early because of this.

 **08:01 Adorkable Cupcake:** You just like to complain. You're all bark and no bite :D

 **08:03 Softie Carm:** Oh, I can bite alright. Wanna proof? ;)

 **08:04 Adorkable Cupcake:** Why do you always have to do this uh?

 **08:06 Softie Carm:** Do what Cupcake? O:‑)

 **08:07 Adorkable Cupcake:** YOU KNOW.

 **08:09 Softie Carm:** You're cute when you're all flustered. It's a pity I can't really see you right now.

 **08:11 Adorkable Cupcake:** I think I'm done talking to you for now.

 **08:15 Softie Carm:** Come on, Creampuff. You know you can't resist your game of 2.000.000 questions.

 **08:18 Adorkable Cupcake:** You're insufferable *huff*

 **08:19 Softie Carm:** And yet, you keep talking to me…

 **08:20 Adorkable Cupcake:** Go back to sleep Carmilla. *eye-roll*

There was nothing unusual in their messages, nothing that made Laura think she'd given Carmilla a reason to want to avoid her. _Maybe she's just really busy. She is a famous singer, after all. Why would she be at my beck and call?_

Laura had given up getting an answer from Carmilla and suddenly watching Doctor Who again didn't seem that appealing to her. Turning off her notebook, Laura decided to try to get some sleep. She was awoken a couple of hours later by her phone ringing. When she saw the name flashing on her phone her heart skipped a beat. It was Carmilla.

"Carm?" She answered sleeply.

"Cupcake." Carmilla said, her voice tired and small.

"What's wrong?" Laura noticed her tone and all signs of sleepiness left her swiftly.

"Nothing, I just wanted to talk to you." Carmilla answered, trying to sound more upbeat.

"It's three in the morning, Carm. You don't call people at this time just to talk. Tell me what's wrong." Laura said gently.

Laura could hear Carmilla taking a deep breath. The silence stretched out for a while, but Laura waited for Carmilla to speak again.

"I got a phone call today that brought some memories I'd rather not be reminded of." She finally said.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

Laura knew it was best not to push or Carmilla might hang up on her. Thinking quickly she decided that the best way to help her friend now was to distract her from whatever memories had been brought back to her that day. And what better way to do that than humiliating herself?

"Have I ever told you about the time I stole Christmas dinner?" She asked and was glad to hear Carmilla chuckling.

"No, you haven't. Why on earth did you steal the Christmas dinner?"

"Well," Laura started, "it wasn't really the dinner itself yet."

"What? You're making no sense, Cupcake."

"You see, we used to spent Christmas at my grandparents' farm when I was a kid. When I was 4 years old I was having a very animal lover phase, all the animals were my best friends. That year I overheard my grandfather and my dad talking when I got up at night to get a glass of water in the kitchen. They were going on about killing the turkey for the christmas dinner. I was aghast by the idea and decided I wouldn't let it happen."

Laura could hear Carmilla's quiet laugh through the phone and she smiled at her success in distracting her.

"So I stayed up and waited until I was sure all the adults had gone to bed. Then I got out and went to the fenced area where some of the animals were kept. I located the turkey sleeping and I tried to pick it up. I wanted to take it to my bedroom, where I planned on keeping it hidden and safe from certain death. But it woke up and got scared and I was too small to be able to control it so it escaped from me awakening the other animals that started a racket in the middle of the night. I tried to calm them down, stomping my feet and telling them to be quiet or we would _all_ become Christmas dinner."

Carmilla was laughing openly now and the sound gave Laura a warm feeling. _She_ was making Carmilla laugh.

"The biggest problem though was that I had left the entrance to the fenced area open behind me and suddenly the turkey ran away and was followed by some of the other animals. By the time my parents and grandparents got there it was too late. We never found the turkey again."

"Cupcake, you're too much." Carmilla said, laughing. "How did your family react when they found you?"

"Dad was furious with me. I don't think I ever got a lecture from him such as I did that day. I had to help clean the horse stalls for a week for that one. My grandparents thought it was funny, and so did mom. But they were not happy to have to buy a frozen turkey for Christmas dinner."

Laura laughed at herself, feeling light and bubbly with the sound of Carmilla's laughter in her ear. They quieted down slowly and were silent for a while until Carmilla whispered in a soft voice that made the other girl shiver.

"Thank you Laura."


	10. Chapter 10

After their first phone call, Laura and Carmilla started talking on the phone every night before going to sleep. They would text in the morning and during the day, as they had been doing for a month, but at night they exchanged the texts for actual calls. Carmilla was always the one to call Laura when she was finally at the hotel from a concert, or an interview or any event she had to participate.

On Friday night Laura was out with her friends for a much needed winding down after the week's work.

"So, how is it going at the paper Laura?" Perry asked.

"Oh, it's going great Perry. I'm being given more responsibilities now, I think it won't be long until I'm actually writing my own articles." Laura said, almost bouncing in her seat with excitement.

"That's great Little Nerd." Kirsch said, raising his hand for a high-five, causing Danny to roll her eyes beside him.

"Congratulations Laura, we always knew you'd make it big some day." She said.

"Thanks guys." Laura beamed at them.

"So," LaFontaine started "how are things going with Carmilla?"

Laura had told her friends about the text messages and the phone calls with the singer. She was agreeably surprised to see that Danny refrained from making any negative comments about it.

"It's good. She's pretty tired of the tour already. She told me last night that she is ready to come home and hide in her bedroom for a week at least." Laura said laughingly.

"When will she be back?" Danny asked.

"In a week. Her last concert is next Friday and then she flies back home."

"Have you two discussed what you will do when she gets back?" LaFontaine asked.

"No, what do mean, what we'll do?" Lara asked them, confused.

"Well, you two are kind of best friends now, right?" They asked, and Laura nodded.

"So, when she comes back are you two going to see each other? Or is your friendship going to continue through texts and calls only?"

"I haven't thought about that." Laura said, scrunching up her face in thought.

"You should talk to her about it. If you two start meeting in person too the gossip mongers are going to have a field day." They said.

Laura's face fell. She had been really excited for Carmilla's return. She had already made plans of the TV shows she would make her watch, of places she wanted to show her, of making her join her little group of friends in their outings. But she had forgotten about the circumstances that brought her and Carmilla together. Of course, LaFontaine was right. If she and Carmilla started meeting as friends when she got back it would be purposefully misinterpreted by the gossipers and they would never get rid of their fake relationship.

Her friends looked at each other, noticing how Laura had deflated with the idea of having her friendship with the singer hindered by a gossip.

"It'll be okay Laura. You just need to talk to her and figure this out. Remember, communication is key." Perry said, trying to cheer her up again.

"Yeah, you're right. I'll talk to her." She said, but her voice had lost her earlier excitement.

Later, Laura was awake in bed waiting for Carmilla to call her. As she had a concert that night, she would only call late when she got back to the hotel. Laura was too worried about the conversation she needed to have with Carmilla to focus on watching anything on Netflix, so she had given up trying and was now staring at the ceiling thinking of what the singer would say when she brought up the little problem they had in the way of their friendship. She was afraid that she would tell her they couldn't be real friends because she didn't want to feed the fire of the gossip. As much as she disliked Carmilla in the beginning, the idea of not being able to be friends with her now hurt. The more she got to know Carmilla, the more she liked her and she would hate for this friendship to be destroyed by someone's callous gossips. She was startled out of her reverie by the ringing of her phone.

"Hi" she answered the call.

"Can you believe that the idiots of this little town thought it a good idea to have a mosh pit but they didn't know how to properly do it and the whole damn group of them ended up in a mess of entwined bodies on the floor?" Carmilla said, laughing.

Laura gave her a forced laugh, she was too tense to be able to laugh at anything right now.

"I'm sure you enjoyed yourself very much with this." She said.

"What's wrong?" Carmilla said, her laughter stopping abruptly.

"No-nothing's wrong Carm. What makes you think that?"

"I know you Cupcake, something's wrong. Come on, tell me. The damn gossipers are not back at it, are they?"

"No, they aren't. But they will be Carm", she replied with a resigned sigh.

"Why do you say that? They haven't published anything in weeks."

"Yeah, I know. But what will happen when you come back? When someone sees us in that bookshop I promised to take you to? What happens when someone takes pictures of us in your brother's bar? Can't you see it, Carm? We can never be friends. They'll just use it to keep going with this stupid gossip." Laura's voice waivered in the end, her eyes suddenly stinging.

"Hey hey hey, Laura," Carmilla replied, her tone soothing, "if you think I'll let some stupid gossip get in the way of our friendship you're wrong. I know I told you I hate having my personal life displayed for all to see, and I've been doing a lot to avoid being in the gossip column for years. But I'm not willing to give up on our friendship because of it. For the first time in many years, I don't really care what they say about me." She took a deep breath before continuing. "So when I get back next week we'll do all the things we planned, okay? It'll take more than a nosy journalist to stop me from making you take me to this super secret and super amazing bookshop you want to show me, okay?"

"Okay." Laura said, relief flooding through her veins. "So, you think journalists are nosy, is that it?" She said, sounding more like herself.

"Of course you would pick up on that." Carmilla said chuckling.

"So, I'm nosy? And here I thought you liked me."

Carmilla laughed.

"Creampuff, you know I don't put you in the same category as those gossipers."

"Where do you put me then?", she asked.

"I put you in the cute Lois Lane-like tiny cub reporter category." Carmilla replied.

"I'm not sure if I should say 'thank you' or 'screw you'." Said Laura.

Carmilla laughed.

"You're doing that cute bunched up face of yours, aren't you Cupcake? That was a compliment, if I wanted to offend you, you would know."

"Hum, you have a weird way of offering compliments." The journalist answered, still feeling a bit offended, although Carmilla's laugher had gone a long way in changing that.

"That's who I am, Sweetheart! And I know you like it." She chuckled again.

"Can you please tone it down? Your ego is so big it's reaching through the phone and trying to strangle me."

Carmilla's laughter rang on Laura's ear and at that moment, she knew they would be alright. Against all odds, Carmilla Karnstein and Laura Hollis would be friends for life.

It was the Saturday when Carmilla would be back home. Laura sent her a text as soon as she woke up to wish her a safe flight. And for the first time, she didn't put a day count on the message.

 **08:05 Adorkable Cupcake:** Good morning, Carm! Have a safe flight home :D

 **08:10 Softie Carm:** Thanks Cupcake. What are you up to today?

 **08:11 Softie Carm:** Wait, no more day count?

 **08:13 Adorkable Cupcake:** Oh well, it doesn't really make much sense to keep counting, does it? I bet the moment you step out of that airplane a picture of us will make its way into the news.

 **08:14 Softie Carm:** You plan on greeting me at the airport then? Didn't realize you missed me so much ;)

 **08:16 Adorkable Cupcake:** We really need to do something about this ego of yours. :)

 **08:17 Adorkable Cupcake:** I don't plan on being anywhere near that airport, but the way our luck has been going I'll probably be teleported there by some weird ancient magic that wants to offer me as a sacrifice for the Greek Goddess Pheme.

 **08:19 Softie Carm:** hahaha, only you could make me laugh so much this early in the day, Buttercup.

 **08:20 Adorkable Cupcake:** We need to work on your perception of time too Carm. It's not early anymore.

 **08:21 Softie Carm:** Of course it is early. It only stops being early after noon.

 **08:22 Adorkable Cupcake:** You're incorrigible.

 **08:21 Softie Carm:** ;) I'll talk to you later Cupcake, gotta go now.

In the afternoon, Laura had just gotten home after doing groceries when her phone started to ring. She rushed to get it in her purse, thinking it might be Carmilla. They had tentatively agreed to meet later that day, if Carmilla wasn't too tired to go out. She was surprised when she saw that it was actually her boss.

"Hello."

"Hello Laura. How are you?"

"I'm fine Betty. How can I help you?"

"Would you like the chance to write your first article for the newspaper?"

"Yes, of course I would. What do you need me to write?" Laura answered excitedly.

"There's a fundraise event tonight, for a charity foundation that helps orphaned and homeless kids find a good home, and I'd like you to cover it. Natalie was supposed to go, but she called me to say she is sick and I think you're the best person to take her place, if you're interested.'

"Yes, of course I'm interested. I'll do it."

"Great, I knew I could count on you. I want you to try and get an interview with at least one of the board members, this foundation is really big in the city and it wouldn't hurt to give them a bit of a spotlight in our paper. I'll send you the details by email, your name will be on the list of the event."

"Okay, thank you Betty. I won't disappoint you."

"I know you won't, Laura. Good luck tonight."

Laura made a happy dance as soon as she hang up her phone. She was very excited for this chance to prove herself. If she did a good job she was sure she would be getting more articles to write soon. The first person she wanted to share her news with was Carmilla, but when she tried to call it went straight to voicemail, so she texted instead.

 **14:40 Adorkable Cupcake:** Hey Carm. How was your flight? I'm so sorry, but I won't be able to meet tonight. My boss just called me and she wants me to cover an event tonight. I'll write my first ever article Carm! :D

 **17:02 Softie Carm:** Sorry I didn't get your call Cupcake. I was sleeping and, for once, my phone was on silence mode.

 **17:03 Softie Carm:** Congratulations on getting your first article assignment, Creampuff. I'm sure you'll do great. It's a good thing you have this to occupy yourself because I wouldn't be able to see you tonight either.

 **17:05 Adorkable Cupcake:** Hey Carm! Did you sleep all day?

 **17:07 Softie Carm:** If I did, I'm not telling you! ;)

 **17:08 Adorkable Cupcake:** Why wouldn't you be able to meet?

 **17:08 Softie Carm:** My sister is demanding my presence in one of her events tonight. Boring stuff

 **17:010 Adorkable Cupcake:** Well, I'm sorry you got roped into a boring night. Maybe we can meet tomorrow to lift your spirits?

 **17:15 Softie Carm:** Sure thing, Cupcake! I'll talk to you later then, I gotta go get ready. Good luck with your work tonight.

 **17:20 Adorkable Cupcake:** Thanks Carm! Try to be a little less broody and maybe you'll enjoy the night? ;)

 **17:21 Softie Carm:** ughhhhhhhh

Laura laughed at Carmilla's message. She knew that Carmilla liked to pretend she was all tough and disaffected, but she was actually a big softie. She decided to start getting ready for the fundraiser herself, she wanted to be there as soon as it started.

When she arrived at the venue where the fundraiser would be held, Laura walked to the door and gave her name. She noticed a lot of paparazzi in front of the venue taking pictures, but no one bothered her. There were more important people than her to be photographed arriving at the venue.

Once she was inside, she started looking around for any familiar faces, she had googled the board members so that she could recognize them. As she was walking around looking for anyone from the Board of Trustees that she could introduce herself to she saw a familiar black hair from the corner of her eyes. Turning so fast she almost gave herself whiplash Laura started laughing like a lunatic. Standing in the corner, talking to a very important looking woman was none other than Carmilla Karnstein.


	11. Chapter 11

When she could finally control her laughter, Laura was unsure if she should just approach Carmilla and be done with it or wait until she noticed her too. She looked around and saw that there were many photographers from media outlets there, so maybe approaching her wouldn't be the best plan right now. She turned and walked in the opposite direction from the singer. Taking out her phone she sent her a quick text.

 **19:23 Adorkable Cupcake:** Guess what Carm? We're at the same event. What did I tell you about our luck, uh?

She waited for a minute, when there was no answer she decided she had better do her work. She located Carmilla in the crowd again and carefully walked in the other direction, trying to always keep the singer in her line of vision so she could avoid an accidental meeting right in front of a photographer. She found two of the board members talking and introduced herself, being lucky enough that they didn't mind giving her a small interview. She recorded their conversation and took some notes, but her eyes never lost sight of Carmilla at the other end of the room.

She was walking around talking to some other people and taking notes for her article when someone approached her.

"Aren't you Miss Laura Hollis?" The man asked.

"Yes, that's me." She answered a bit wary, afraid he might be someone wanting to know about her "relationship" with Carmilla.

"I'm Vordenberg, from the Vordenberg Media Enterprise. I suppose you've heard of us?"

"Yes, Mr. Vordenberg, of course I did. It's a pleasure to meet you." Laura answered in awe. Vordenberg Media was one of the biggest media companies in the country and she would love to be able to work there someday.

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Hollis." He said. "Now, I hear that you're a journalist yourself?"

"That's correct sir, I'm actually here to cover the event for the newspaper where I work."

"Good, good. And you're Miss Karnstein's girlfriend?" He asked.

Laura's face fell. Of course he knew who she was because of that damn gossip. She wasn't sure what to say. She didn't want to correct him straightforward, after all, he could publish her declaration in any of his newspapers and magazines. But she also couldn't tell him it was true. She and Carmilla had come to an agreement about this and she would keep her word to her friend.

"Actually sir, I prefer not to talk about that." She said.

Vordenberg laughed.

"Smart girl, smart girl. I like you miss Hollis. You see, my family has an old connection with Miss Karnstein's family. It wasn't always peaceful, mind you, there was a bit of a nasty business with an arranged marriage that didn't happen." He said wiggling his eyebrows in a way that actually made Laura cringe.

"But this is all in the past and I try to live in peace with the family. I was wondering if you might be interested, in light of your relationship with Miss Karnstein, to join the journalism team at Vordenberg Media Enterprises?"

Laura was breathing hard, she could not believe anything that had happened in the last 10 minutes. She'd never have imagined that coming to this event would not only bring her to another accidental meeting with Carmilla, but that she would meet the owner of a place where she'd always dreamed of working and be offered a job by the man himself.

While she was talking with Vordenberg she had lost sight of Carmilla, she was now walking around frantically looking for the singer, she needed to speak with her right away. After five minutes searching and not seeing any sign of her she had started to think that maybe she had left when her phone buzzed in her purse.

 **21:08 Softie Carm:** No kidding, Cupcake. I'm starting to believe you were right about the whole ancient evil sacrifice thing. Where are you? I can't find you in the crowd.

 **21:09 Adorkable Cupcake:** I'm in the back, close to the bar.

 **21:12 Softie Carm:** I see you! I'm in front of you on the other side of the room.

Laura looked up and, sure enough, Carmilla was standing there smirking. As the singer started making her way towards her, Laura started walking to meet her halfway. However, she was too distracted staring at Carmilla in a black dress that hugged her in all the right places and didn't notice someone else coming in her direction. She collided with a tall woman who held her before she could fall on her back. When she looked up she realized it was the same woman Carmilla was talking to when she first noticed her in the beginning of the night.

"You." the woman said angrily, grabbing Laura's arm and starting to direct her to a door behind the bar.

Laura's eyes widened in surprise, she had no idea what was going on. She looked back to see Carmilla frowning and moving to follow them. The woman directed Laura through a corridor and inside an empty room.

"Listen to me, you little midget. If you think I'm going to let you hurt my sister you're very much mistaken. Nobody plays games with her and goes unpunished."

"What?" Laura said, confused about everything that was going on "What are you talking about? Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Matska Belmonde, Carmilla's sister. And you're going to tell me right now what your game is. How did you know the places my sister would be so that you could arrange those little photographs and start this gossip about your supposed relationship with her?"

"I didn't arrange anything. It was all just a coincidence that someone decided to take advantage of, but that wasn't my doing." Laura replied angrily.

"Look here you nosy little…" Matska started again.

"Mattie, stop!" Carmilla had just entered the room.

"What the hell is going on here?" She asked, going to stand by Laura in a protective stance.

"I'm just trying to put this cub reporter in her place, I'm not going to let this go on like the last time." Mattie said, her eyes burning with anger.

"Back off, Mattie." Carmilla said. "Laura didn't do anything wrong, none of this is her fault."

Laura was looking back and forth between the sisters. She was glad that Carmilla had arrived and decided to protect her, Mattie was an imposing woman and she had been honestly scared.

"Really?" Mattie said sarcastically. "Why then has Vordenberg just told me that he offered this project of a journalist here a job in his company in light of her 'relationship' with you?"

Carmilla turned back to Laura at lightning speed.

"Is this true?" She asked with a shaking voice.

"Yes, he did…" Laura started, but Carmilla didn't let her finish.

"What the hell Laura? I thought you were different. I thought you were my friend. But you're just like the others, aren't you? You just want to take whatever you can from me and then just kick me aside when you don't need me anymore, right?"

"No, Carm, it's not like that…" she tried again.

"Don't call me that." Carmilla said in a low, controlled voice that scared Laura more than Mattie could ever do. "You don't get to call me that anymore. Actually, you don't get to speak to me at all. Get out of my life Laura." She said looking into Laura's eyes. She turned and hurried out of the room.

The hurt that Laura saw in Carmilla's eyes cut through her sharper than any knife could. She felt like someone had cut a hole on her and she was left there, bleeding and without a ground to stand on. She turned back to Mattie angrily.

"See what you've done?"

She didn't wait to hear what Mattie was saying to her, she left the room and started running back through the corridor to where the party was happening. She had to find Carmilla and explain everything to her. When she got back in the crowd, Laura looked around in search of the singer and saw her reaching the entrance door. She started running again, not caring that she had to push some people out of her way, or that she caused a waiter to let a tray of champagne flutes fall, she had only one thought in her mind: _reach Carmilla_.

When she finally made it out of the venue she saw Carmilla waiting impatiently for her car to be brought around. When the singer saw Laura she seemly gave up on the car and started walking away from the venue on foot.

"Carm, wait, please. Listen to me." Laura said, jogging to reach Carmilla.

"I've told you not to call me that anymore." Carmilla replied angrily without stopping or looking back.

Laura finally reached her and held her arm to stop her from running away again. Carmilla turned back to Laura, her eyes hard and emotionless. She looked at the hand on her arm and Laura let go instantly.

"Please Carmilla, just let me explain." She said, her eyes filled with tears.

"There's nothing to explain. I understand everything perfectly now. Was it always just a game, Laura? Did you plan all of those "accidental" meetings? Was everything just a ruse to get to me?" She asked, her voice shaking.

"I said no." Laura said before she lost her chance.

"What?" Carmilla asked confused.

"I said no to Vordenberg." The tiny girl replied.

"But, I don't understand, Mattie said… you said..."

"I said he offered me a job, which is true, but you didn't give me the chance to say I refused it, you silly girl." Laura said, feeling relieved now that the hurt and anger was slowly receding from Carmilla's eyes.

"I'd never do that to you Carm." Laura said softly, taking the singer's hands in hers. "You're my friend, I think you're actually my best friend. I've always wanted to work at Vordenberg Media, but I wouldn't accept a job that was offered based on the assumption that I'm your girlfriend. That would be wrong in so many ways, but the worst would be taking advantage of you like that. That's not something I could live with." She finished.

She saw Carmilla swallow, searching for the right words to say. When she couldn't come up with any, she just pulled Laura into a tight hug.

And then, they heard it. The click of a photographic camera going off.

"Shit.", Carmilla said, letting go of Laura and turning to see two paparazzi clicking away. She looked around and took Laura's hand in hers.

"Come on, Cupcake. Let's get out of here." She said, starting to jog back to the entrance of the venue just as a black car was stopping there. Oliver came out of the driver's side and opened the rear door for them.

"Hi Oliver." Laura said before ducking inside the car after Carmilla.

"Take us to my place, please, Oliver." Carmilla said when he was back inside the car.

Oliver nodded and started the engine, quickly moving away from the paparazzi who were trying to take pictures of the inside of the car. Laura and Carmilla looked at each other, and the ridiculousness of their situation and the relief of having cleared all misunderstandings between them burst forth in a fit of laughter that lasted the entire ride to Carmilla's apartment.


	12. Chapter 12

Carmilla's apartment was on the top floor of the building, after greeting the doorkeeper, they went to an exclusive elevator that led directly to the singer's door. The first thing Laura noticed when she entered the place was that it was ridiculously huge for just one person. It was also very messy.

"Sorry about the mess, Buttercup." Carmilla said, closing the door behind her, not sounding sorry at all.

"It's okay." Laura replied, looking around with curious eyes.

The living room had a very comfortable looking sofa and two armchairs in front of a big television. There was a coffee table which was littered with books and empty beer bottles and take-out boxes. There was a ceiling to floor glass window with a perfect view of the city down below.

"Wow Carm, this is beautiful." Laura said, getting close to the window and admiring the lights of the city.

"Yeah, that is pretty much why I got this place. It doesn't really compare to seeing the light of the stars when there isn't so much artificial light around, but it's better than nothing." Carmilla answered, coming to stand beside Laura.

Laura looked at her and smiled. She was happy that Carmilla was finally back and they could talk to each other like this, and not through the phone being miles away from each other.

"Well," Carmilla started, turning to face Laura, "I'm going to get out of this dress. Do you want to change into something more comfortable? You can wear something of mine."

"Yeah, that'd be great."

"Ok, follow me then."

She guided Laura through a corridor into her bedroom which, Laura noticed, was even messier than the living room had been. She chuckled, shaking her head. Somehow, this sloppy side of Carmilla didn't surprise her at all, it seemed to fit well with the disaffected punk star vibe she had.

Carmilla rummaged through a chest of drawer and gave Laura a pair of dark grey sweatpants and an old black band T-shirt.

"I think this might fit you, Cutie. Sorry I don't have anything colorful enough to befit your shiny disposition." She said with a smirk. "You can use the bathroom, it's that door over there."

Laura just rolled her eyes at her friend's teasing and left to get changed. After quickly taking off her dress and putting on Carmilla's clothes, which were, in fact, a bit long for her, Laura left the bedroom only to be met with the image of Carmilla wearing nothing more than her underwear. She had her back to Laura while she looked in the chest of drawers for something to wear. The journalist knew she shouldn't be looking, she knew she should turn around and go back inside the bathroom, but her eyes were glued to Carmilla's form. Her white skin that looked so soft and her beautiful legs, her black hair falling in waves over her bare back.

"See something you like, Cutie?" Carmilla said, having turned around suddenly with her clothes in her hands.

"I, uh, s-sorry. I'll just, uh…" Laura tried to speak, but gave up and turned back to the bathroom, her face as red as a tomato. She could hear Carmilla chuckling at her embarrassment.

"You can come out now, Cupcake." She heard Carmilla say and left the bathroom, still feeling extremely flustered at having been caught ogling the singer. Carmilla was wearing very short shorts and a black top, which honestly didn't cover much of what Laura had already seen.

"Are you hungry? I didn't eat anything at that place tonight, I was thinking about pizza?" Carmilla asked her, guiding her back to the living room.

"Pizza sounds heavenly right now." Laura replied, plopping down on the sofa. Carmilla took out her cell phone and called her favorite pizza place to order their food. She went to the kitchen and came back with two bottles of beer, handing one to Laura and sitting down on the sofa next to her.

"So, I suspect we are going to be on the newspaper again tomorrow." Laura started saying after taking a sip of her beer.

Carmilla groaned, taking a big gulp of her own bottle.

"Yeah, I don't suppose they'll pass up the chance to publish our hug. Sorry I just gave them more reasons to say we're dating, Creampuff." She said, looking apologetically at Laura.

"It's okay, Carm. It wasn't really your fault. I was the one who ran after you to begin with. I can only imagine what they are going to say if they caught that on camera." Laura cringed.

"Look, Laura. If you want me to, I'll release an official statement saying that we are not dating." Carmilla said, looking at her.

Laura looked in her eyes and saw that she was being serious. Even though she didn't like speaking about her personal life, she would do it if Laura wanted her to. She would do it _for her_. The journalist felt butterflies making a racket in her stomach and, somehow, it didn't matter anymore what the newspapers said about her and Carmilla. The only thing that mattered was that they were friends willing to do things for each other that they would normally not do and that meant the world for Laura.

"Nah, it's okay really. I don't care what they say about us anymore. We're friends, and we know it and that's all that really matters." She said, giving Carmilla one of her huge smiles.

Carmilla smiled back and they just sat there looking at each other. Laura started to feel the heat going up her neck to her face again and looked away.

"So, what about watching a movie?" She asked.

"Sure thing, Cutie" Carmilla said picking up the TV remote and turning it on to open Netflix. Laura wasn't happy with any of Carmilla's suggestions, which mostly consisted of horror movies, and when she started pouting, the singer just gave up and handed her the remote.

"Fine, you choose. Just don't make me watch a Disney movie, okay Cupcake?"

Laura smiled brightly and started browsing through Netflix, settling for watching _Midnight in Paris_ , which Carmilla grumbled about, but Laura could see that she was actually interested. Twenty minutes into the movie their food arrived and they put it in the coffee table, eating and drinking beer while watching Netflix. By the time the movie ended they were snuggled up together on the couch, Laura had her head on Carmilla's shoulder and the singer had put her arm around Laura's waist, holding her close.

"Paris is such a romantic place." Laura sighed.

"You've ever been there, Creampuff?" Carmilla asked, moving around a bit so she could see Laura's face.

"No, but I want to someday. Have you been there?"

"Yes, many times."

"Is it really as romantic as the movies make it?" She asked excited.

"Don't know, Cutie. I'm not really the romantic type, you see." Carmilla drawled.

Laura scoffed at that.

"Right, I bet you're the biggest romantic that ever was when you're in love." She said smiling mischievously at the singer.

Carmilla faked a gag sound that make Laura laugh.

"Come on Cutie, just pick another movie." She said, shoving Laura aside, but with the hint of a smile on her lips.

Laura was unsure of what had awoken her. It could have been the glaring sun hitting her in the face, or her full bladder begging her to go to bathroom or the weight of Carmilla lying on top of her on the sofa. Somewhere along their third movie the night before they must have fallen asleep together. She tried to wriggle out of Carmilla's grip, but the more she tried to move away the tighter the other girl held on to her.

"Stop moving Cupcake, I'm trying to sleep here." She said sleeply, snuggling into Laura's chest.

"Carm, wake up. I need to use the bathroom." Laura said in a soft tone.

"Shhhh." Was the only answer she got.

"I'm serious Carmilla, if you don't let me go I'll pee in here."

"Fine, fine." Said Carmilla, disentangling herself from Laura. "You know Cupcake, I haven't been able to sleep properly ever since meeting you and not even for a good reason." She continued grumply while she waited for Laura to leave the sofa so she could go back to sleep.

Laura chuckled at how Carmilla could be flirty even when she was still half asleep. She got up and went to the bathroom. When she came back Carmilla was sleeping again. She shook the singer, trying to wake her up.

"Carm, I'm going to go, okay? I'll give your clothes back after I wash them." She said.

"Come back here to sleep more." Carmilla replied, eyes still closed, hands reaching out blindly for Laura, which the tiny girl thought was really cute.

"No, I really should be going, but I'll talk to you soon." Laura replied getting up and collecting her things while Carmilla fell asleep again. She was honestly impressed by her friend's ability to fall asleep so easily.

When Laura arrived at the lobby of the apartment building she said good morning to the doorkeeper, who was not the same one who was there the previous night and opened the door to leave only to be assaulted by the sound of cameras clicking and questions coming from the photographers.

"Are you and Carmilla moving in together?"

"Did you two have a fight last night?"

"Is it true that her sister doesn't approve of the relationship?"

Laura scrambled back into the building, closing the door behind her.

"Shit, shit, shit." She kept repeating.

"I'm sorry miss." The doorkeeper said. "I didn't know they were out there for you, or I would have warned you. Usually they are here for Miss Karnstein."

"Yeah, well, I'm a friend of hers. That's probably why." She answered, happy that he didn't recognize her.

"Do you want to go back up? Miss Karnstein can get you out of here without trouble. I'll open her elevator for you."

He used his card to let her enter Carmilla's elevator and she thanked him before the doors closed and she started moving back up to her friend's apartment.

When Laura got back inside Carmilla was still sound asleep on the sofa. The journalist put her things down at the table in the hall and went to the sofa.

"Carm, wake up. We have a problem." She said, shaking Carmilla, her voice frantic. Hearing her tone, Carmilla woke up and set up on the couch, Laura sitting beside her.

"What's wrong?"

"There is a bunch of paparazzi outside. They were there when I came out, just waiting to ambush me. And they took my picture and started asking question. And Carm, I'm wearing your clothes and they are bound to notice it. And now they're are going to think that we sleep together. I mean we did sleep together, but they say we _slept_ together and…"

"Breathe, Cupcake." Carmilla said, putting her hands on Laura's shoulders to try and calm her down.

Laura stopped talking and took a deep breath.

"What are we gonna do, Carm?" She asked.

Carmilla run her hands through her hair, thinking.

"I could go down there and tell them the truth, if you changed your mind about it."

"No, no." Laura said, "Besides, no one will believe the truth now, even if you tell it. They have pictures Carm, of me coming out of your building wearing _your_ clothes."

"You're right. They probably wouldn't buy it if I said we're not together."

They were silent for a couple of minutes, each of them trying to figure out what to do now.

"Well, Cupcake. I think we have only one option left here." Carmilla started, turning in the sofa so that she was facing Laura.

"Which is…?" Laura said, also turning to face Carmilla.

"If you can't fight them, join them." Carmilla said in a low husky voice, moving her face close to Laura's.

"Wh-What, what do you mean?" Laura stumbled upon her words, flustered at Carmilla's proximity.

"What do you think, Cutie?" Carmilla's face was so close to Laura now that she could see herself reflected in the singer's eyes.

"Are you suggesting that we, that y-you and I, that we just…" Laura stuttered.

Carmilla pulled back laughing.

"Jeez Cupcake, you make it way too easy for me to tease you."

"Can you be serious for a moment here Carmilla, we have to find a solution for this problem." The tiny girl huffed.

"Well, we could really just start dating, that would end the problem of this gossip being a lie." The singer said raising her eyebrows.

"Carmilla." Laura replied, a warning in her voice.

"Fine, fine. I'll be serious now." Carmilla said, putting her hands up in surrender. "But I still think that the best solution is to 'join them'".

"Ok, I'm listening."

"So, we could drive these people crazy trying to figure out exactly what is going on between us. We can give them every opportunity to see us together and take pictures, but we won't say anything and they won't be able to catch us kissing and this will drive them mad. People will start losing interest in this gossip if they can't get a picture of us more than simply being at the same place at the same time and they'll lose audience and credibility."

"It does sound like an interesting plan." Laura said, pensive. "Maybe the people who read all these gossips will come to the conclusion that we're just friends by themselves this way, since there won't be any couple-like pictures of us to prove otherwise. Although they do have pictures of me in your clothes."

"Friends do sleepovers all the time, Cupcake. It doesn't really mean anything." Carmilla said, "Besides, can you imagine how much fun we can have making these fools follow us around town to never get what they really want?" She smirked.

"Yeah, it could be fun." Laura smiled, "Okay, I'm in."

"Great!" Carmilla said, "Now, let me get changed and we'll put this plan into action right away, Sweetheart." She said with a mischievous tone.

"Oh no, what have I agreed to?" Laura replied, honestly scared by the look in Carmilla's eyes.

"You'll see in a minute Cutie." Carmilla winked at her and left to get changed.

When Carmilla came back from her room she was wearing leather pants, a tight black top and combat boots. Laura unashamedly looked her up and down and swallowed, _it should be illegal to look this good._

"Come on, Cupcake. Let's go somewhere for breakfast and then I'll take you home." Carmilla said, picking up a set of keys from the kitchen table.

They got in the elevator but they didn't stop at the lobby, they went to the garage floor instead. There Carmilla directed Laura to a stunning black motorcycle.

"Are we going on _that_? Laura asked, fear clear in her voice.

"Yep." was all that Carmilla said, while she handed Laura a helmet and put on the other one.

When she looked up at Laura she saw that the girl hadn't moved at all since picking up the helmet. She stood there, her eyes wide, looking at the bike.

"Come Creampuff, there's no need for this deer caught in the headlights look." She said, taking the helmet from Laura's hand and putting it on her.

"Are you sure you know how to ride this thing?" Laura asked and Carmilla laughed at her.

"Sweetheart, I could ride this babe here in my sleep." She said, jumping on the bike. "You coming?"

"You better ride safe. If I die in a motorcycle accident my dad is going to resurrect me just so that he can kill me himself." Laura answered, getting behind Carmilla on the bike.

"No worries, Cupcake. You'll always be safe with me." She said. "Now, hold tight."

When they left the building they saw the group of paparazzi waiting by the entrance. Carmilla stopped the bike and shouted at them.

"Hey, losers. Over here."

When they looked at the girls, realizing they should have been keeping an eye on the garage too, they quickly put their cameras up and started taking pictures. Carmilla flipped them off and accelerated the bike to get out of there. Laura was holding on to Carmilla's waist and turned her head to see the paparazzi still clicking away. She turned back and tightened her grip on the other girl, she felt the wind rushing through them and, although she knew she should be afraid, she wasn't. Carmilla was right, she was safe with her.


	13. Chapter 13

Laura had given Carmilla the address of her favorite pie place which, according to her, also had the best pancakes in the entire world. Carmilla had smirked at Laura's enthusiasm, but agreed to grab breakfast there nonetheless. When they arrived, Carmilla took out Laura's helmet.

"Was it as bad as you imagined, Cupcake?" She asked while running her hands through Laura's hair, trying to put it back in place.

"Uh, no." Laura replied nervously. "It was actually quite nice."

"I knew you'd like it. You have a sense of adventure not unlike my own, Cutie." she said smiling.

Every single time Carmilla smiled at her like that, Laura thought that the butterflies in her stomach would actually lift her from the ground. She knew Carmilla wasn't exactly the smiling type and the fact that she was smiling at her like that made her feel elated. They entered the place and sat down at a booth in the far corner. After they ordered their food, they sat in a comfortable silence for a while, gazing out the window.

"So, since when have you ridden a motorcycle?" Laura broke the silence.

"I got my first one when I was seventeen. I knew it would drive my mother crazy, so I had no doubt that would be my choice for transportation." Carmilla answered with a smirk.

"Well, if I had tried something like that my dad would probably have locked me in the basement until I was at least thirty."

"Your dad sounds like he needs to learn how to relax, Buttercup."

"I know." she sighed "Sometimes his overprotective nature is a bit overwhelming, but I don't mind most of the time. He only does that because he loves me, and after what happened to my mom, he's afraid he'll lose me too." Laura finished, looking down at her hands wriggling together on the table. It was the first time she ever mentioned her mother to Carmilla.

Carmilla took her hands in order to stop the anxious movement.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"It's just, my mom died when I was nine. A drunk driver veered off the road and caught her on the sidewalk. I was supposed to be with her, she would walk with me to school everyday because she was a teacher there, but I was sick that day and stayed home." Laura said looking into Carmilla's eyes.

"As shitty as all of this is, and as sorry as I am that you lost you mom so early, I'm truly glad you were sick that day Laura." the singer said in a soft tone.

"Me too." Laura replied, eyes locked with Carmilla's.

They were interrupted by the waiter bringing their breakfast. After Carmilla took her first bite of her blueberry pancakes she moaned out loud, making Laura blush scarlet.

"Holy shit, you were right Cupcake. These are the best pancakes I've ever tried." She said, shoving more pancake inside her mouth.

"Told you!" Laura replied, feeling proud of herself.

When they finished eating Carmilla paid for everything for Laura's displeasure.

"Next time is on me." she said.

"Woah there, who says I'll want to go out with you again, Creampuff?" she winked.

"You don't, I just mean, if you want…" Laura spluttered, causing Carmila to laugh.

"Will you relax please, Cutie? I was just messing with you."

Laura narrowed her eyes at her.

"You know what? I don't even know why I'm your friend. How does anyone put up with you?"

"That's the thing, Cupcake. They don't." She said, getting up from the booth and going back outside to her motorcycle, Laura following behind.

When they arrived at Laura's building she invited Carmilla in.

"Do you want to come in? We could get the newspaper and see what they wrote so we can decide what to do next?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." The singer replied.

They stopped at Laura's mailbox to get her copy of the newspaper before going up to her apartment. When they arrived at Laura's floor they could see a giant redheaded girl pacing in front of Laura's door and an equally giant pup of a man trying to calm her down.

"Oh no." Laura said.

Carmilla looked on curiously as Laura puffed out her chest and with a determined look on her face marched on to the redhead.

"Danny." she called "What are you doing here?"

"Laura, thank God you're okay." She said, crushing Laura into her arms.

Laura disentangled herself quickly.

"This better not have anything to do with those gossips." She said, crossing her arms angrily. Carmilla was highly amused by the show.

"I'm not so sure they are just gossips anymore. _You spent the night with her Laura_." Danny said.

"As I told you before, you shouldn't believe anything that is published in the gossip column. Besides, I told you Carmilla is my friend, so what if I spent the night at her place? I can do whatever the bloody hell I want." She spat out angrily.

"Laura, you don't seem to underst…" Danny stopped mid-word when her eyes finally landed on Carmilla.

"You." she said advancing on the singer who backed against the wall. "Leave Laura alone, do you hear me? If you harm so much as a single hair on her head I'll hunt you to the ends of the world and you'll pay for it."

"Back off, Xena." Carmilla said, pushing Danny away from her. "Laura is a grown woman, she can decide who she wants to spend her time with."

"Look here you little punk …"

"STOP" Laura shouted. "Stop this right now." She turned around and pointed at Kirsch who backed away as if she was threatening him with a sword. "You, get your girlfriend out of here." She turned to Danny, "You, leave now." She finally turned to Carmilla. "You, don't make things worse by fighting, come with me."

Then she turned around without noticing the stunned faces of her three companions. When she opened the door and turned, everyone was in the same position, eyes wide looking at her.

"What are you waiting for? MOVE."

Kirsch suddenly moved to grab Danny's arm, and Carmilla walked over to Laura.

"Laura, please" Danny tried.

"No, Danny. I don't want to hear you anymore. You can talk to me when you're ready to accept my decisions and treat my friends with respect. Before you can do that, we have nothing more to say to each other." she said, pushing Carmilla inside her apartment with her and closing the door behind them.

"Well, well, well, Cupcake." Carmilla said. "You _do_ have some bite after all." she smirked.

"Careful Carmilla, or you'll find yourself right behind Danny."

"Hey, I'm saying that with the utmost respect. I'm pretty impressed to be honest."

"Humpf." Laura moved to the sofa and opened the newspaper looking for the dreaded gossip column. Carmilla guessed she didn't want to talk about the giant redhead and decided to let it go for the moment. She followed Laura and sat beside her so they could read together.

" **Trouble in paradise? Carmilla's family doesn't approve of her new girlfriend**

 _By Sarah Jane_

 _Last night, Carmilla Karnstein and her girlfriend, Laura Hollis, attended a fundraiser together. They arrived at different moments at the event, probably in an attempt to dispel the attention they would garner together. This was apparently Karnstein's first time introducing her new lady love to her sister and PR, Matska Belmonde. According to our exclusive correspondent, who was at the event himself, Belmonde did not warm up to Hollis. They were seen having a heated discussion, after which, Belmonde took Hollis away from the party for a private conversation, followed close by Karnstein. Our beloved punk was seen running away soon after, followed by Hollis, who ran after the singer true to romantic comedy form and caught up with her at the entrance of the venue. As the pictures below show, whatever their fight was about they made up and went home together._

 _Is their love strong enough to withstand the opposition of Karnstein's family? We are all rooting for you, Hollstein!_

 _To keep up with this new development in our favorite couple's relationship, follow me on Twitter."_

"That wasn't as bad as it could have been." Carmilla said, after they finished reading.

"You say that because you were not the one running "true to romantic comedy form." Laura said, pointing a finger at Carmilla, causing her to laugh.

"I don't know why that is a problem to you, Cupcake. You love romantic comedies."

"Just because I like watching romantic comedies, doesn't mean I want my life to become one. And that's exactly what Sarah Jane is trying to do with this stupid articles."

"At least now we are the directors of this shit, Cutie. Let's see if our escape has made it to Twitter yet." Carmilla replied getting her phone and opening the app.

Their morning escapade had, in fact, made its way into Twitter. Sarah Jane had published the photos of Laura from when she tried getting out of the building for the first time with the comment " _Walk of shame, Hollis? Don't you have any of your clothes at your girl's place yet? Tsk, Tsk"_

"I knew they would realize I was wearing your clothes. Now everyone is going to think I slept with you, that's why Danny was here so early." Laura commented.

"You know, I should be offended that you dislike the idea of sleeping with me so much, Cupcake."

"I don't dislike the idea of sleeping with you, I just wish people would stop publishing lies."

"So, you mean you would do it?" Carmilla asked with a mischievous grin.

"Do what?" Laura asked confused.

"Sleep with me? You've just said you don't dislike the idea." Carmilla winked at her.

"Oh my God, no. No! That's not what I meant. I just, it's not that.. not that you're not attractive, I just mean…" Laura said flustered, but then she saw the look in Carmilla's eyes "Will you please stop trying to embarrass me?"

"Cupcake, I can't help myself, you're just too tightly wounded." Carmilla laughed, "But now, seriously, would you?" she raised an eyebrow.

"You're worse than the gossipers, Carmilla." Laura said, getting the singer's phone out of her hand to see the other tweets.

The pictures of them speeding away in Carmilla's motorcycle had also made their way into Sarah Jane's Twitter. There was no way anyone would believe they were not together now. Surprisingly, there were no pictures of them eating breakfast, probably because no one there recognized them, which was a good thing, in Laura's opinion.

"I should get out of your clothes and put them to wash. Make yourself comfortable, I won't be long."

"Alright Cutie." Carmilla said, getting up and starting to look around Laura's apartment.

It wasn't very big, nothing like Carmilla's, but it was cozy and had a homey feeling to it. Laura had a wall full of photographs. In many of them she was in the company of the giant redhead Carmilla had met that morning and another two gingers, whom Carmilla imagined were Perry and Lafontaine. The big pup who apparently was dating Xena was in some of the pictures two. And there were many of Laura with an older man who had a nose exactly like hers, so it must be her father. One of the pictures was of Laura as a child and a woman who looked exactly like her, except for the nose. Carmilla knew this must be her mother, they shared the same happy smile. Carmilla moved on to Laura's bookshelves and was unsurprised to see the entire Harry Potter collection and some more of what she considered nerdy books.

"What do you want to do now?" Laura asked, coming back to the room.

"I don't know, have any ideas?"

"Well, I thought maybe we could start your education in TV series."

"Ughh, Cupcake. Isn't it enough that you made me watch three movies last night?"

"Nope. Stop being so grumpy about everything, we'll watch Buffy."

"Remind me again why I'm letting you do this to me?"

"Because you don't have a choice." Laura said smugly.

They sat side by side on the sofa and started their marathon. Around the middle of the third episode, Carmilla lay down on the sofa and put her head on Laura's lap without saying a word or even taking her eyes away from the TV. Laura looked down at the girl on her lap, her black hair in a messy bun, her face serene and her eyes locked on the TV. She smiled at the view, Carmilla was just so beautiful and, even though she pretended to be all cool and disaffected, she was the type of person who cared deeply. And suddenly it hit Laura with the force of a hurricane, changing everything and leaving her adrift. _I have a crush on Carmilla_.


	14. Chapter 14

After watching a few more episodes of Buffy and ordering Chinese for lunch, Carmilla left Laura's apartment to go to her own place, since she had a meeting with her sister there. Laura was divided between being glad that Carmilla had to leave and being sad about it. Her newfound feelings were making her extremely confused and even more awkward than normal around the singer, which she had noticed since she kept asking Laura if she was okay.

Laura decided that what she needed was some quality time with her friends. She called LaFontaine and asked if they and Perry wanted to come over that night, which they agreed to. When her friends arrived, Laura updated them on everything that had happened in the last few days, including the confrontation with Danny. They had read the newspaper and what Sarah Jane tweeted, but they figured that it was either another misunderstanding or, that if any of it was true, Laura would tell them herself.

"I'm so glad at least some of my friends are capable of respecting me and not judging too quickly." she told them.

"Don't worry L, I'm sure Danny will come around. You know how she is, always trying to be the adult and take care of everyone." LaFontaine said.

"I don't need to be taken care of." was Laura's reply.

"We know that sweetie, and I'm sure Danny will come to see that too." Perry intervened.

"So, tell us about Carmilla. How is she like, really?" LaFontaine asked.

"She's…" Laura started, her eyes acquired a far away look as she tried to describe Carmilla "she's pretty intense and she doesn't really open up much to people. On the surface, she seems to be so disinterested all the time, like she doesn't care about anything or anyone in the world. But if you just give her time to get used to you, then you can see the wonderful person she really is. She really does care about the people in her life, even if she likes to pretend that she doesn't. For some she may seem to be arrogant and selfish, but they just don't know how she truly is on the inside. And she's so beautiful and she doesn't even seem to notice it, it's like she doesn't realize how beautiful she is on the outside and on the inside."

Laura looked at her friends to see a small smile on Perry's face and a raised eyebrow in LaFontaine's. Only then she realized that she might have said a bit too much, considering how perceptive LaFontaine was. She tried to distract them from asking anything about it.

"So, we should all go out together, so you can, you know, meet her and see for yourselves how she's such a great friend to have." she said, too quickly.

"Friend, uh?" LaFontaine answered with a smirk.

"Yeah, friend. That's what we are, friends. Just good friends." Laura replied, her voice too unsteady to be believable.

"Right, crushes-on-punk-stars." LaFontaine said, laughing.

"What? No, no. I don't... She's just…" she took a deep breath "We're just friends. I don't have a crush on anyone. No crushes here."

"That's not what your telltale blush is telling me right now, L." LaFontaine insisted.

"Leave her alone, LaFontaine." Perry scolded.

"Alright, alright." they answered putting their hands up in surrender.

During the next week things were pretty quiet on the gossip front. Carmilla was busy with meetings regarding the contract for her new album and selecting a producer and a studio. Therefore, she and Laura didn't have the chance to see each other. They continued talking daily, through texts and phone calls, but didn't meet in person. Laura thought that was a good thing, she needed time and a little bit of distance to sort through her feelings for Carmilla.

Laura couldn't help but laugh at the irony of it all. Everything started by a simple accident, just someone trying to make easy money out of a situation that wasn't at all what they made it look like. And she was very pissed off by everything and pressured as much as she could for the truth to come to light. The gossips about them got more serious as the time passed, but by then she and Carmilla had started talking and she had gotten to know her and had become her friend. And now she had a crush on Carmilla and a part of her wished that all the gossips were actually the truth. She had gone from wanting to drag Carmilla out to the newspaper in order to deny their relationship to wishing that everything the gossipers said about them was her reality.

The worst part, as Laura saw it, would be hiding this from the singer. She was never very good at hiding her feelings. She was, after all, an open book. But this time it was crucial that she hide her crush. She didn't want to ruin her friendship with the other girl because of her feelings. Sure, Carmilla flirted with her all the time and was pretty suggestive in some of her comments, but she never tried to act on those comments, so Laura believed that she was just flirty by nature, it had nothing to do with her specifically. After all, why would someone like her be interested in someone like Laura? She was incredibly gorgeous, smart, a talented musician, she had traveled the world and could speak many languages, she oozed self-confidence and sensuality. While Laura was simply a plain and awkward small town girl with an overprotective father and just beginning her career as a journalist. There was no way a woman like Carmilla would ever be interested in someone like Laura. For a friendship? Yes. For anything else? No.

On Friday morning, Carmilla sent Laura a text during her lunch time.

 **12:21 Softie Carm:** I need alcohol.

 **12:22 Adorkable Cupcake:** The day going that bad?

 **12:23 Softie Carm:** Yes. Don't get me wrong, I love making music, but the business part of it is just ughhh!

 **12:23 Softie Carm:** So, what do you say?

 **12:24 Adorkable Cupcake:** What do I say to what?

 **12:24 Softie Carm:** Alcohol? I can kidnap you from work ;)

 **12:25 Adorkable Cupcake:** Carm, it's the middle of the day yet. Can you hold until tonight?

 **12:27 Softie Carm:** Fine, fine. Want to go to my brother's bar?

 **12:27 Adorkable Cupcake:** Sure, I'd love to.

 **12:28 Softie Carm:** Pick you up at 7 PM?

 **12:28 Adorkable Cupcake:** That's perfect. Is it ok if I invite my friends to join us, Carm?

 **12:29 Softie Carm:** Xena and her puppy?

 **12:29 Adorkable Cupcake:** No. I'm still not talking to her. I meant Laf and Perry.

 **12:33 Softie Carm:** Yeah, no problem Cutie. As long as they don't try to attack me too, it's fine.

 **12:34 Adorkable Cupcake:** Thank you Carm, I promise they won't attack. :D

When Laura opened the door of her apartment for Carmilla that night she had a hard time keeping her jaw from falling to the floor. The singer was wearing those damn leather pants and the corset that she had used for a concert a while before, after asking Laura to choose her outfit.

"Like what you see, Cutie?" Carmilla smirked.

"Uh, yeah. I mean, uhm, you always look nice Carm." she said, blushing.

"Is that so, Cupcake?"

Laura rolled her eyes.

"Let's go before your ego gets too heavy for you to carry around."

Carmilla laughed but followed Laura out of the apartment. When they got to the entrance of the building Laura was surprised to see Oliver waiting for them with the car. She turned to Carmilla.

"I thought you would have preferred to come on your motorcycle?"

"I didn't think it would have been very considerate of me to drink and drive after knowing what happened to your mom", she said shrugging and looking away from Laura. She suddenly lost her balance as a tiny ball of happiness hurled into her.

"Thank you, Carm." Laura whispered while keeping them both upright.

"It's nothing, Cupcake."

"No, don't say that. It means a lot to me." Laura said, releasing the girl so they could get in the car.

When they arrived at Silas Bar, Carmilla got out of the car first and extended her hand to help Laura out. As soon as they were on the sidewalk, hand in hand, Carmilla pulled Laura closer to her and, looking in her eyes, she brought their faces together, almost eliminating the space between them. Laura's heart was beating so fast and so loudly she was sure even Oliver could hear it from inside the car.

"Carm? Wh-what are you doing?" Laura spoke in a breathless voice.

Carmilla just smiled and, when her lips were almost touching Laura's, she changed direction and kissed Laura on the cheek, whispering in her ear.

"We have company to your right."

Laura turned her head slightly and, sure enough, there was a paparazzo there taking pictures. Carmilla pulled away quickly, clearly satisfied in tricking the man into believing they were about to kiss in front of his camera.

"Come Creampuff." She said tugging on Laura's hand so she would follow her. Laura let go of Carmilla's hand and glanced one last time towards the photographer, she took a deep breath and followed the punk singer, murmuring to herself, "Worst. Crush. Ever."

LaFontaine and Perry were already inside the bar when Laura arrived. She and Carmilla joined them at their table and the journalist made the introductions. Carmilla left them to get drinks for her and Laura.

"Holy shit L. She's even hotter in person." LaFontaine said, following Carmilla with her eyes.

"Tell me about it." Laura grumbled, which made LaFontaine smirk.

"Still no crushes over there?"

"Nope. Nothing here." Laura continued in denial.

LaFontaine was about to say something when they looked behind Laura and their eyes widened. Before they could say anything to Laura, the person they had seen approached the table.

"Hey guys. Laura, can I talk to you for a minute, please?" Danny said.

"It depends on what you want, Danny."

"I just want to apologize, I promise." she replied with pleading eyes.

"Fine." Laura said, standing up, "I'll be right back."

When Carmilla came back to the table a minute later she was frowning.

"Where's Laura?"

LaFontaine didn't say anything, they just pointed to where Laura and Danny were standing together talking. Carmilla looked over at them and back to LaFontaine and Perry, her eyes burning with anger.

"What's the carrot top doing here?"

"She just wanted to apologize to Laura." Perry said.

"We didn't invite her to join us, if that's what you're thinking." LaFontaine told her.

Carmilla nodded and turned back to watch the two girls, she seemed like she wanted to go there and pull Laura away from the tall girl, which LaFontaine thought was a very interesting reaction.

Meanwhile, Laura was, once again, patiently listening to Danny's apology.

"Look Laur, I know I screwed up. And I know you had told me before not to meddle. It's just a bit difficult stopping worrying and trying to help when that's what I've been doing all my life." Danny said.

"I know Danny, but you need to try harder, okay?"

"Okay. I'm truly sorry Laura and I promise not to believe in those gossips again. Just give me a chance to show you that I can be the friend you want me to be?"

Laura breathed deeply and looked over to the table where Laf, Perry and Carmilla were. She saw that Carmilla was paying close attention to her and Danny, she smiled to let her know

everything was fine and turned back to Danny.

"Fine. But Danny? Don't try my patience again. Okay?"

"No problem, Hollis." Danny said smiling. "Can I join you guys?"

"Sure."

They went back to the table, Laura sitting beside Carmilla and Danny sitting on her other side.

"Hey Laf, Perry." Danny said smiling, she turned to the singer with a nod of her head, "Carmilla."

"Xena." Carmilla answered coldly.

"Be nice." Laura whispered to her, which only made Carmilla roll her eyes as she handed a drink to the honey blonde girl.

"So, where's Kirsch?" Laura asked.

"He had to work late tonight."

"That sucks." Laura said.

The five of them made small talk for a while, asking about work and family. LaFontaine and Perry started asking questions of Carmilla, about her career, travelling and fans. Carmilla answered their questions as succinctly as possible, but she was polite, just because these were Laura's close friends. Danny never talked directly to Carmilla, which was fine with her, except for the fact that she kept trying to hold Laura's attention on her. Every single time Carmilla tried to talk to Laura, Danny would pull her attention away. The singer was getting frustrated with the tall redhead, but she didn't want to do anything that might upset Laura.

At some point, Will joined them at their table.

"Hey Kitty. Hi Laura!" he said, sitting beside LaFontaine.

Laura introduced him to her friends. He got them a free round of drinks, which helped him gain the seal of approval from Laura's friends. He was in the middle of telling them a story about how a drunk customer once tried to serenade his sister by singing her own songs to her, when Danny suddenly stood up grabbing Laura's hand.

"Want to dance, Laura?" she said, already pulling Laura toward the small crowded dance floor. Laura looked back to her friends with an apologetic smile on her face.

Danny pulled Laura to her and they started dancing, close to each other. It was nothing they had not done before, and it had always been just two friends having fun together. But something felt odd tonight, Danny was pulling Laura much closer than she probably should and the tiny girl wasn't sure what was going on. She wasn't enjoying herself as much as she usually did. The truth is, she wished Carmilla had been the one to ask her to dance, but she figured this wasn't much Carmilla's thing so she tried to relax and enjoy her dance with her friend.

When the song changed, Laura glanced back at the table and was surprised to see Carmilla wasn't there. Suddenly she felt two strong arms wrapping themselves around her waist from behind. She stiffened for a moment until she recognized Carmilla's perfume and relaxed back against her. Danny made a displeased face and got even closer to the tiny girl. All of a sudden, Laura found herself being pressed between the two girls and she was nonplussed and distressed by it all. After a little while she just couldn't take it anymore, she had no idea what the hell was going on, but she felt like the other two girls were having some sort of sick competition and she was the prize. She untangled herself from both and, saying that she needed a drink, headed to the bar.

Soon Carmilla was at her side.

"You okay, Cupcake?"

"What the hell just happened, Carmilla?" she asked, looking into the other girl's eyes.

"What are you talking about?" the singer asked, looking away.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. You and Danny were having some sort of twisted competition with me in the middle." she spat.

Carmilla put her fingers on the bridge of her nose and breathed deeply before answering.

"Look, Creampuff, that beanstalk is clearly into you. Isn't she dating that puppy friend of yours? What's her game?"

"What? Are you insane?" Laura laughed "This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever listened to. Danny into me?"

"Come on Laura. Not even you can be that oblivious."

"No Carm, we're just friends. She's not interested in me." Laura said, still laughing at the idea that Danny could be romantically interested in her.

"Don't want to believe me, fine. But Xena is interested in you." she said in an angry tone that surprised Laura. "Are you ready to go?"

"Uhm, yeah, sure. Let's just say goodbye to everyone."

After they said their goodbyes, they left the bar and waited for Oliver at the door. Carmilla had her arms crossed over her chest, and a frown on her face. Laura had no idea what the hell had happened. One minute everything was fine, Carmilla was being polite to her friends and laughing at her brother's story, adding a few details herself. And then, she was pressed up against Laura on the dance floor, trying to pull her away from Danny. And now, here she was, standing there unapproachable, all of her walls were back up, and Laura didn't know what to do about it.

The ride back to Laura's apartment was silent. Carmilla stared out the window the whole time. The tension between them was so thick that Laura was sure a butter knife would cut it. When Oliver stopped the car in front of the journalist's building, Carmilla asked him to wait while she walked Laura to her door. They went up in silence and when they were in front of Laura's door she couldn't take it anymore.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she asked Carmilla.

"Nothing is wrong with me. What makes you think that?" the punk star replied in a cold tone, not looking at Laura, who scoffed at this answer.

"Oh please, Carmilla. Do you think I'm a simpleton? I don't know what the fuck happened on that dance floor between you and Danny, but you've completely closed off since then. So don't give me this crap." she said angrily.

"You wanna know what's wrong with me?" she said in an angry voice, uncrossing her arms and taking a step closer to Laura. "What's wrong with me is that Xena has a boyfriend and she treats you like crap and yet you were there getting all hot and bothered with her on that dance floor."

"And what is that to you, really? Why does it matter to you that I was dancing with her?" Laura replies, ignoring Carmilla's ridiculous implication that Dany was into her. She was glad to notice her voice was steady when she spoke.

"What's that to me?" Carmilla said in a disbelieving tone, "You must be kidding me."

"Carmilla, I don't underst…"

And suddenly her words were interrupted by Carmilla's mouth on hers. The singer pressed her back against the door and kissed her roughly, hungrily. Laura didn't hesitate to kiss her back with just as much passion. Her hands went up to Carmilla's hair, pulling her as close as possible while Carmilla put her arms around her waist. The singer ran her tongue on Laura's lower lip and she immediately let her deepen the kiss. She tasted like whiskey and Laura was getting drunk on her. When the need for air made it impossible for them to keep kissing Carmilla pulled back looking into Laura's eyes, breathing hard. And then, without saying a word, she turned around and left.

Laura stared after her, trying to catch her breath. _Carmilla just kissed me. Carmilla Karnstein just kissed me._


	15. Chapter 15

Laura woke up but didn't open her eyes. She wanted to savor in the remnants of the dream she'd been having, which involved Carmilla and no clothes. A buzzing on her bedside table ended her moment of self-indulgence in fantasy land. She opened her eyes slowly and reached out for the phone. She had a message from LaFontaine and, considering how early it was, there could be only one reason for this: she must have made it to the gossip column again.

 **07:15 LaF:** I think your girlfriend and you might want to check the newspaper.

 **07:17 Laura** : She's not my girlfriend.

 **07:18 LaF:** Not yet, but I know you want her to be. And she wants that too ;)

 **07:19 Laura** : I don't know what you're talking about.

 **07:20 LaF:** ah, denial is such a beautiful river to drown in… But seriously, you should check the newspaper, L.

Laura got up, changed and went to her mailbox to get her copy of the newspaper. Getting back to her apartment, she went to her kitchen to prepare a hot chocolate. She eyed the offending newspaper in her table and wasn't sure she wanted to see what was in there this time. She could only imagine what Sarah Jane must have said in it if she had got pictures of she, Danny and Carmilla dancing together last night. At least she was absolutely certain that there would be no pictures of her kiss with the singer. The kiss. Laura wasn't sure what to think about that. Maybe Carmilla wasn't as indifferent to her as she had thought, but then again she left without saying a word after kissing her. And they had been drinking, so maybe Carmilla just wasn't thinking very clearly and got caught up in the moment because of what had happened with Danny, that would make sense.

Shaking her head from these thoughts, Laura picked up the newspaper to read the dreaded article.

 _ **Towering redhead in the middle of Hollstein?**_

 _After the last hurdle in the road to love, no one would have thought our favorite couple would be facing another challenge so soon. But that's exactly what seems to have happened last night. Our beloved couple was seen the previous night at Silas Bar, owned by Karnstein's brother, Will Luce. As you can see in the photography above, they arrived together and seemed to be in a good mood. However, we talked exclusively with some people who were in the bar and witnessed the couple's interaction. Apparently, Hollis introduced Karnstein to some of her friends, but one of them does not seem to be happy with the relationship. According to our witness, a tall redhead took Hollis aside in the beginning of the night and they had a heated discussion. Later, Hollis was seen dancing with the same redhead and, as you can see in the photographs below, Karnstein was not happy with this and went there to reclaim her lady love. The couple left the bar right after the heated dancing contest, but the mood had changed dramatically from what it was when they arrived. Even though they left together, they were as distant from each other as we have ever seen them._

 _Who is the tall redhead? Is she Hollis' ex? A friend that is in love with her and is giving Karnstein a bit of competition? What comes next in the Hollstein saga?_

 _To keep informed of any new developments in this ship, follow me on Twitter. And don't forget to use our new hashtag #HollsteinKiss to try and get the couple to give a kiss for the cameras (It's about time!)_

Laura groaned and put her head down on the table. This couldn't get any worse. Now they involved Danny in this mess and honestly, Laura couldn't understand why people thought that there was anything more than friendship between them. Danny _had_ danced a bit too close to her last night, but that was probably just alcohol and the song and some silly dispute with Carmilla for her friendship, right? Before she could arrive at any conclusion her doorbell rang, which only made her groan again because it sure wouldn't be someone telling her she won a free vacation package to Paris. If someone was knocking at her door this early on a Saturday it could only mean more problems.

When she opened the door she was surprised to see who it was.

"Kirsch?"

"Hey, little nerd. Mind if I come in?" he asked.

"Of course not." Laura opened the door for him to pass. As she looked at her friend, sitting down at the sofa, she realized how tired and sad he seemed to be and she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She sat by his side and waited for him to talk.

"Danny and I broke up." he finally said, not looking at Laura.

"Shit Kirsch. I'm sorry. What happened?" she asked, her stomach twisting with apprehension.

"I don't know little nerd. She's been kind of weird lately, you know? Like avoiding me, finding excuses not to see each other. And then, last night, she canceled our dinner plans, she said she had to work. But this morning in the newspaper…" he trailed off.

"Damn it." Laura said, "Kirsch, you must know that there's nothing between Danny and me. She is my friend, but that's it. What that woman wrote in the newspaper is a lie, just a stupid gossip."

"I know she's just a friend to you. That's why I came here. I wanted to tell you that I don't blame you." He said.

"Then talk to Danny. You guys are good together, I don't like seeing you like this." she said, but Kirsch just shook his head.

"Can't do, Laura. Danny, she" he gulped, "she said it's true what Sarah Jane wrote, about she having feelings for you."

"WHAT?" Laura shouted, jumping from the couch.

"When I saw the newspaper this morning, I asked why she lied yesterday about where she was going and she, and she told me…" Kirsch gulped and stopped talking, Laura looked at him and realized he was crying.

"Oh Kirsch." She said in a soft voice, sitting beside him again and embracing him the best she could, considering how big he was for her tiny arms. "I'm so, so sorry about this. I swear I had no idea Danny felt like that."

"I know Laura. You're the best bro ever, I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt me."

They stayed in silence for a while, Laura holding Kirsch, trying to comfort him. Her stomach was twisting with everything he'd told her and she wished she hadn't had that hot chocolate after all.

"I better go, little nerd. I'm meeting some of my Zeta bros, I'll be staying with one of them for now." Kirsch said, getting up.

"Look Kirsch, I'm really sorry about all of this. If you need me for anything, you know I'm here for you, right?" she told him.

"I know. I'm here for you too, if you need me." he said, with a small smile.

At that moment, Laura's doorbell rang again. When she opened the door she stiffened immediately. Danny was standing there.

"Can we talk, Laura?" she said, and then she noticed Kirsch behind the journalist and grimaced.

"I don't think we have anything to talk about Danny. How could you? How could you do this to Kirsch? What is wrong with you?" she said, staying inside the apartment and blocking the door, standing defensively in front of Kirsch, which should have been hilarious considering Danny was almost twice her size, but the look in her eyes was more than enough to compensate for her tiny frame.

"Laura, I can't help how I few. I've always been in love with you." she continued.

"God, Danny. I can't recognize you anymore. How can you say something like that to me in front of you ex-boyfriend as of this morning? How can you be so callous?" Laura was astonished at the way Danny was acting.

"I just can't hide it anymore Laura. I didn't make a move before because I knew you've only ever seen me as a friend. But I have to try, I just can't keep ignoring my feelings for you. If I do, I might lose you forever." Danny insisted.

"Well, too bad Danny, because, right now, I can't even be your friend anymore. Leave, and don't come after me again unless you go back to being the person I knew, or thought I knew."

"Laura, please, just give me a chance."

"She told you to leave, I suggest you do as she says." came a voice from behind Danny.

"Carm!" Laura said eagerly, passing by Danny and hugging Carmilla, who looked at her and smiled before she looked back to Danny with murderous eyes.

"This is all your fault. You're the one turning Laura's head with this famous punk girl attitude and the idiot is falling for it. You're just going to use her and then destroy her like you did with Ell." Danny said angrily, towering over Carmilla.

The singer immediately let go of Laura and grabbed the lapels of Danny's shirt, turning and pressing her against the wall, which was pretty impressive considering how much taller the redhead was.

"Do not dare to talk about things you can't possibly understand. I've been patient with you so far because I didn't want to upset Laura, but you've crossed the line now. Do not talk about Ell, and do not talk about Laura like that. I don't know how you can say you're in love with her when you can't even show her some respect. I won't let you treat her like crap. She may be too good a person to actually kick your ass, but I'm not. So, unless you learn how to treat a lady, do not come after Laura again, or God help me, I'll make you regret it." Carmilla said in a low voice that could scare the bravest of people.

She let go of Danny's lapels and backed away closer to Laura. Danny looked at the three of them and seemed to finally understand she wouldn't get her way this time. Without a word she turned and left. The other three stayed silent until Danny disappeared inside the elevator.

"Whoa there, angry hottie. That was super awesome, bro." Kirsch said with admiration in his voice.

Carmilla turned to him.

"Do _not_ call me that ever again."

"Okay, okay. Never again." Kirsch said, his hands up in surrender. "But, thank you, for defending Laura and putting Danny in her place. I mean, I like her you know, she was my girlfriend, but what she did was wrong, and she hurt me and the little nerd and I don't want to see her again."

"Didn't do it for you, beefcake." Carmilla said.

"Right, huh, I'll go now. I'll talk to you soon little L." he said, turning to Laura and giving her one of his bone crushing hugs.

"If you need anything, I'm here for you Kirsch."

"I know. Bye Laura, bye angry hott.. I mean, uh, Carmilla."

With that Kirsch turned on his heels and left. The two girls stayed silent looking at each other. Now that the mayhem was over, Laura was feeling nervous about being alone with Carmilla after what had happened the night before. She didn't know how to act, since she had no idea why Carmilla had kissed her, or if she regretted it,or if she wanted to do it again just as much as Laura did.

"Well, that was a kick." Carmilla said, breaking the tension.

Laura laughed and invited her in.

Once they were sitting in Laura's kitchen table while she prepared coffee for Carmilla and another hot chocolate for herself, the journalist asked how how long she had been there listening to the conversation with Danny.

"Long enough." Carmilla snorted. "That beanstalk is a piece of work, Cupcake. I don't know how you could ever be friends with her."

"I don't know what's wrong with her, she never was like that before."

"The way I see it, she just showed you her true self." Carmilla replied, "Is the puppy going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I think he will be fine." Laura replied, while swooning a little bit internally because it was just so sweet of Carmilla to be worried for Kirsch.

"What are you doing here so early, anyway?" Laura asked handing her a cup of coffee, "Not that I mind you being here, I just didn't expect to see you again so soon. I mean, it's really early and I thought that you would still be sleeping but instead you are here and…"

"Breathe, Cupcake." Carmilla interrupted, even though she liked it when Laura went on a ramble like that, it was adorable.

"Right, I'm breathing" she replied with a nervous laugh.

"I got an early call from my sister. She saw the newspaper, she told me to stop playing games with the media."

"Are you going to obey her?"

"Nah, Sweetheart, you know I'm not one to do as I'm told." she smirked which made Laura laugh.

"No, you're not."

They stayed silent, Carmilla sipping her coffee and Laura gulping down her hot chocolate. Unlike other moments of silence that they had shared, this one wasn't comfortable. It was pregnant with the tension of the unspoken elephant in the room.

"Laura, about last night…" Carmilla started, but they were interrupted by the message tone of Laura's phone. She got up and picked the phone, internally cursing whoever had sent her a message right at that moment.

 **08:50 LaF:** So, did you read it?

 **08:51 Laura:** Yes, and I have a lot to tell you and Perry, but I can't talk now, I'm with Carmilla.

While she texted LaFontaine back, Carmilla had stood up and washed her cup. She was now standing behind Laura, reclined on the counter. Laura turned back to her and gulped nervously when she realized how close they were. She cleared her throat.

"So, you were saying?" she asked in a breathy voice.

Carmilla stood there just looking at Laura, her eyes traced every detail of her face, reaching her lips and going back to her eyes. Laura kept her eyes on the singer's, her heart hammering in her chest. Throwing caution to the wind, Carmilla moved forward and kissed Laura again. This time the kiss was slow and gentle, each one savoring the taste of the other. Carmilla's hands were cupping Laura's cheeks and Laura put her arms around her waist, bringing her closer. Laura ran her tongue over Carmilla's lips and she promptly opened her mouth and let a small moan escape when she felt Laura's tongue on hers. When they parted, they kept their foreheads together, trying to catch their breaths.

"Will you have dinner with me tonight?" Carmilla asked.

"Will that be a date?" Laura asked in return, opening her eyes to look into the singer's eyes.

"Yes, that will be a date." she answered, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Then my answer is yes. Yes, I'd love to have dinner with you tonight." She had a huge smile on her face and Carmilla smiled too, before closing the gap between them to kiss Laura once more.


	16. Chapter 16

"I have to go." Carmilla said, parting her lips from Laura's.

"Wait, what? Why?" Laura asked confused.

"Well Creampuff, I have a date to plan and I really don't want to disappoint my girl, so, I need to go." She moved away from Laura and out of the kitchen.

"You don't need to leave now. I mean, you just got here. Can't you stay a bit more?" the journalist said following her.

"No can do, Cupcake. We'll see each other later today." she said, putting on her jacket.

"You're mean." Laura said pouting, which only made the singer laugh.

"You're cute when you pout." she said, giving Laura a quick kiss before opening the door to leave.

"Are you seriously going to leave now?" Laura asked in disbelief, now that she could kiss Carmilla she just wanted to spend the entire day with her.

"Yes. Like I said, I have a girl to impress tonight, I need time to plan this date well." Carmilla said, pulling Laura towards her for a goodbye kiss. When she broke the kiss, Laura pulled her back in for one more lingering kiss before letting her go.

"I'll pick you up at 6, okay?"

"Ok, where are we going?"

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out when we get there."

"How am I supposed to know how to dress if I don't know where we're going?"

"Nice try, Cupcake. Just dress simply and comfortably, no need for anything fancy where we are going." Carmilla said. She gave Laura a quick peck on the lips before turning around and down the corridor towards the elevator. "I'll see you tonight, Cutie."

Laura just watched Carmilla go, her hand going up to her lips, caressing the faint feeling of Carmilla's lips that remained there.

Once she was back inside the apartment Laura sunk in the couch with a huge smile on her face. _I'm going on a date with Carmilla Karnstein. I'm going on a real, not fake gossip date with Carmilla Karnstein._ And then she groaned thinking about what Sarah Jane would start publishing once she and Carmilla were seen on actual dates. She didn't believe she would be able to avoid any PDA with the singer and she was sure there would always be a photographer just waiting for any sort of contact between them. Now Laura was wishing she had suggested that they just stay home and order dinner instead of going out for their first date. Maybe it wasn't too late to make the suggestion, but Carmilla had been so happy and excited with the idea of planning this date that Laura didn't have the heart to ruin it. She would just have to get used to having her personal life on display. But if that was the price of dating Carmilla, Laura didn't think it was a bad bargain at all.

Without knowing what to do with herself until it was time for Carmilla to pick her up, the journalist called LaFontaine to see if they wanted to meet for lunch because there was something she needed to tell them. After spending the morning cleaning and organizing her apartment she left to meet with LaFontaine at the same pie place where she'd taken Carmilla.

"Hey L." LaFontaine said when Laura joined them at the table.

"Hi Laf, how are you?" Laura said, fidgeting a bit.

"I'm fine. How are you? You seem nervous." they asked.

"I kissed Carmilla." she said quickly, looking anywhere but at LaFontaine. "Actually, she kissed me, but I kissed her back so I suppose I could say I kissed her. But she started it, not that I'm complaining, I just mean to say that…"

"Laura?" LaFontaine interrupted and when she stopped talking and looked up, they continued, "Take a deep breath and explain everything slowly, please."

Laura did as she was told, taking a deep breath before starting to tell LaFontaine how she and Carmilla had a discussion the night before that ended with Carmilla kissing her and how Kirsch had shown up at her place that morning to let her know he and Danny broke up only to have the tall ginger and Carmilla showing up too and fighting, leading to another kiss between her and Carmilla who asked her out on a date.

"Wow, Laur. Your life has definitely become a romcom." LaFontaine laughed.

"I know, right?" Laura groaned which made LaFontaine laughed even harder.

"But seriously L, Carmilla seems to be a nice person, maybe a little bit too intense, but I like her. She's clearly into you, that much I know. She looked like she could murder Danny last night when she saw the two of you together."

"Oh well, she almost _did_ murder Danny this morning." Laura replied.

"Can't say she didn't have a reason to. What is wrong with Danny? She wasn't like this." LaFontaine said frowning.

"I don't know." Laura replied, playing with a piece of pie. "I can't recognize her anymore, you know? I can't believe what she did to Kirsch, he is such a sweet guy and she broke his heart like it was nothing."

"I wonder if she was always like this and we didn't see it because we considered her a friend. If you think about it, she never had a good relationship with her Summer Society sisters, they were always on the brink of war."

"Yeah, maybe she was always like this. But I really just wanted her to continue being my friend, the way she always was back in college." Laura lamented.

"I know Laura, but honestly, I don't think there's much chance of you and Danny staying friends after this, especially considering how your girlfriend dislikes her."

"She isn't my girlfriend, Laf."

"Maybe not officially, but she sure acts the part." LaFontaine smirked.

"Can I ask you a question?" Laura said quietly and much more seriously than their talk had been so far.

"Of course, Laura."

"Do you think she… do you think Carmilla really likes me? Or is she asking me out just because, you know, it's easy and the media already thinks we're dating?" she said, her eyes full of the doubts that had started to fill her mind when she thought about everything that had happened as she made her way to the pie shop. The more she thought about it, the less she could understand how Carmilla could be interested in her.

"Come on L, that girl is crazy about you. Haven't I just told you how jealous she was last night when she saw you with Danny? And after everything you told me that happened when you two left the bar and this morning, how could you believe she's not into you?" they said.

"I know, it's just that she's this super badass gorgeous singer and I'm just plain old me." she replied.

"Laura, you are beautiful, smart, compassionate, she's lucky to have you." LaFontaine said, "Trust me, she likes you because of who you are."

"Thanks, Laf." Laura gave her friend a little smile. They were right, she might not be famous or insanely rich, or as beautiful as Carmilla, but if the singer gave her a chance she would do everything in her power to be worthy of her.

When she got back to her apartment, Laura tried to distract herself with work. She had been given another article to write after her success with the piece about the fundraiser and she wanted this new piece to be just as good, so she dived into her research.

After working for a couple of hours Laura decided it was time to get ready for her date with Carmilla. She took a long, relaxing shower and started trying out every single piece of clothing she had in her wardrobe. She was just too nervous and didn't know what to wear to impress the singer, especially considering that she was told to wear something simple and comfortable. In the end she opted for a yellow retro sundress that had little blue anchors all over it with a light pink front lace canvas flat, since the weather had been nice and warm lately. After applying a little bit of makeup, Laura sat in her living room to anxiously wait for Carmilla.

When her doorbell finally rang, Laura jumped from the couch and smoothed her dress and her hair before opening the door with a big smile on her face. Carmilla was wearing ripped black jeans with a red flannel, leather cuffs and combat boots. Laura felt her mouth go dry, how could Carmilla look so good in anything she chose to wear? She was so busy admiring the singer that she didn't notice the appreciative look she was receiving from her until she spoke up.

"You look beautiful, Laura."

Laura blushed and looked into Carmilla's eyes with a shy smile.

"You look great too."

"Here, this is for you." Carmilla said, offering Laura a single red rose that she had hidden behind her back.

Laura felt herself blush even harder, she was sure her color could compete with the color of the rose. She took the flower, smelling it and inviting Carmilla in while she put the flower in the water. Once the rose had been put in display on her coffee table the couple finally left, hand in hand.

"Where are we going?" Laura asked as they entered the elevator.

"Patience, Cupcake. You'll find out soon enough." Carmilla smirked, she was enjoying making the other girl curious.

Laura was surprised to see that Carmilla was driving her car instead of riding the motorcycle or having Oliver drive them. Carmilla explained that she need the car for this and she didn't really want Oliver to have to be a part of their first date, which Laura thought was weird since he had driven them places before and that was never a problem, but decided not to say anything.

Once they were on their way, the two girls talked about their day. Laura told the singer about her lunch with LaFontaine and how they were as nonplussed as she was about Danny's recent behaviour.

"The way I see it, Cupcake, she always fancied you and now that she has some competition she decided it was time to act."

Laura blushed again at what Carmilla said. The idea that she would fight for her if needed made her feel all warm inside. Not that the singer had anything to worry about, Danny was no threat to Carmilla. The journalist thought she had a crush on the tall girl when they first met, but she soon realized that they were better off as friends, they weren't compatible enough for anything else.

The two girls settled on a comfortable silence after that. As Laura watched the streets they were passing by, she got more and more curious about their destination, it seemed like they were heading to the outskirts of town and she couldn't imagine where the singer could be taking her. She decided to try once again.

"So, this place where we're going. Where is it again?" she said, as nonchalantly as she could.

Carmilla laughed, taking her eyes from the road for a minute to look at Laura.

"What would be the point of the surprise if I told you where we're going, uh, Cutie?"

"Not fair, you know I have a natural healthy curiosity and that not knowing would drive me crazy."

"That's true, but this is good training for you Creampuff. I like planning surprises." she answered with a shrug of the shoulders and a shy smile.

After a fifty minutes drive, Carmilla finally stopped the car. They were in a deserted place, as far as Laura could see the only things around them were trees. Carmilla took a piece of cloth from the glove compartment and started to put it around Laura's eyes.

"Carm, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes." Laura said without hesitation.

"Then, indulge me in this please. I promise I won't let you fall or hit a tree." she said, getting out of the car. "Wait here a minute."

Laura was feeling a bit anxious, being in the middle of nowhere in the dark, with a cloth around her eyes, but she really trusted Carmilla so she tried to relax and wait for the other girl to come get her. She heard Carmilla opening and then closing the car trunk and walking away, she waited patiently until she could hear the singer's footsteps coming back, at least she hoped they were Carmilla's footsteps.

"Alright Cupcake, time for your curiosity to be satiated." Carmilla said, opening Laura's door and guiding her out of the car and in the direction of the trees. She stopped them after a little while and moved behind Laura to untie the cloth from her eyes. When she was finally able to see again, Laura gasped.

They were in a clearing and below a tree standing alone almost in the middle was an outdoor floor couch with many colored cushions. The lower branches of the tree were decorated with garden lanterns and christmas lights giving a warm, soft light to the set-up. There was a blanket in front of the floor couch with a basket and a few candles completing the decoration. Laura felt her throat tighten with emotion, she couldn't believe Carmilla had done all of this for her. The singers' voice broke her out of her daze.

"Do you like it?" she said, and Laura could hear the insecurity in her voice. She turned around hugging Carmilla with all the strength in her.

"Carm," she said, "I love it. It's perfect. I can't believe you did all of this for me." she finished, feeling Carmilla relax in her arms.

"You deserve it, Laura." she pulled back to look the tiny girl in the eyes, "You deserve the world."

Laura just couldn't wait anymore, she moved forward and captured Carmilla's lips in a slow kiss. They only pulled back when the need for air became unbearable.

"Come, let's go sit down." Carmilla said, pulling Laura towards the floor couch. When they sat down, Carmilla pulled a champagne bottle out of a cooler inside the huge basket. She opened it and filled two champagne glasses, giving one to Laura and then toasting. "To us."

"To us." Laura repeated taking a sip of the drink. "Wow Carm, this is delicious."

"I'm glad you like it, Cupcake. I hope you're not too disappointed we're drinking champagne in the middle of nowhere instead of being in a five stars restaurant." she said, nervously. It was clear to Laura that she was still unsure about her choice of locale for their date.

"Carm, I'm not disappointed at all. This is perfect, I mean it." she smiled at the other girl and was glad to see her relaxing and smiling back.

"Good. I could have taken you to the best restaurant in town, but I really didn't want our first date to be a public affair. Here we can be sure that it's just the two of us." she explained.

Laura laughed at that because she had been worried exactly about this that morning after agreeing to go on a date with the singer.

"I'm actually glad you thought about that. I was a little bit apprehensive about what would turn out in the newspapers tomorrow if we were seen in public in an actual date."

"We won't be able to escape the gossipers forever, but tonight is just for us." Carmilla answered, leaning forward to kiss Laura again, which Laura reciprocated eagerly.

Carmilla had brought a variety of things for them to eat. There were sandwiches, cheeses, fruits, chocolates and, of course, cookies for Laura's delight. They ate while talking about anything that came to their minds, getting to know even more about each other. After the first glass of champagne, Carmilla had opened a bottle of grape juice for her; since she would have to drive them back, she didn't want to consume more alcohol. Once again, Laura was touched by this gesture. Even knowing what had happened to her mother, some of her friends didn't really care about drinking and driving; one of them being Danny, whom had always offered to drive Laura home after a night in the bar in their college years, when the tiny girl still didn't have a car, and she would get mad when Laura didn't accept her rides.

After all the food had been consumed and many kisses had been shared, the two girls lay down on the floor couch holding each other, Carmilla pulled a blanket over them to keep them warm.

"Hey Cupcake. There's something I wanted to tell you." Carmilla said, her eyes fixed on the stars above them.

"You can tell me anything, Carm." Laura said, sensing that this was going to be a serious conversation. Whatever the singer wanted to tell her, the journalist could feel in the sudden tension in the girl's body that it wasn't an easy topic for her.

"You know how I told you that I never make any sort of declaration about my personal life to the media?" she started.

"Yes."

"There's a reason for that and I wanted to tell you now, because I don't want you to hear this from anyone else."

Laura shifted her position so that she was laying on her side with her arms around Carmilla. The dark haired girl pulled Laura closer and started talking, her eyes still focused on the sky above.

"When I was 17 I met a girl in a party and was instantly taken with her. Her name was Ell, she was tall, blond with blue eyes. She was beautiful. Ell worked as a model, but she wasn't famous, despite her beauty she hadn't been lucky in her career so far. We became friends, but I wanted more than that. Ell agreed to have a no-strings-attached relationship with me, she said she was too busy and had to focus on her career, she didn't have time for anything serious." Carmilla was silent for a little while, lost in her memories until Laura lightly nudged her to continue.

"We kept that arrangement for two years. Soon after I turned 19, I got the contract with my label. I had been gaining attention on the internet and started playing in many different places and when I got a shot at playing at a festival, someone from the label saw me and offered the contract. Soon, I had an album released and was making it to the top selling lists and I started playing everywhere, it was a dream come true to me."

Laura smiled at that, she hadn't known how Carmilla started her career. As she had told Danny, she wanted to learn these things from Carmilla herself, not from the internet. Carmilla started talking again and Laura refocused on her.

"At this point, Ell talked to me and said that she wanted to be in a serious relationship with me, that she had fallen in love and wanted to be with me for real. I was so happy with that. I had been in love with Ell from the beginning, but I accepted her terms because it was better than not having her at all, so when she asked me to be her girlfriend I said yes without giving much thought to it. I didn't want to make our relationship public because, despite being famous, I was still a very private person. But Ell insisted so I decided there was nothing wrong with it and organized a press conference acknowledging our relationship. After that, Ell's career took a turn for the best, suddenly everyone wanted her to be their model. I knew that it was my name linked to her that did it, but I didn't really care. If I could help make her dreams come true I was happy for it." Carmilla stopped at this point, taking deep breaths before she was able to keep going with the story.

"The media was crazy about the two of us, there was no place we went that we were free from the paparazzi. I went on a big tour right after my second album was released and Ell stayed behind. When I was in the middle of the tour I woke up one day to the image of my girlfriend kissing a man in every single newspaper and gossip magazine that existed."

Laura took a sharp breath at this point, and hugged Carmilla harder, but didn't say anything, not wanting to interrupt the story.

"Turns out there were hundreds of pictures of the two of them together, since before Ell and I had become girlfriends. They were seen shopping together, having dinner, spending the day at the beach, drinking and dancing in clubs. I flew back home to confront Ell and she confessed that she had been dating that guy since before she met me. She had used me as a stepping stone for her career, the only reason she stayed with me was because she knew she could use my fame to get attention to herself, that was why she insisted in making our relationship public. I was brokenhearted, but more than that I was enraged at being used like that, especially after Mattie discovered that the photos had been leaked to the media by our own mother. She never approved of my career and hoped to make me give it up with the scandal."

"Carm…" Laura started, but the singer cut her off.

"Wait, let me finish. After I learned all of this, I cut ties with my mother and I decided to get back at Ell. Mattie helped me to discredit Ell in the fashion world, being a PR who works with many famous people she had enough information to convince people to cancel their contracts with Ell and she threatened to leak the secrets of those who didn't agree to never offer a new contract to her. Ell's fame ended just as quickly as it had started. I don't know what she is doing now, but I know she'll never have another shot at modeling. After that I promised never to make a declaration about my personal life to the media, it was talking about it that allowed all of this to happen."

Carmilla was silent, a single tear falling down her cheek. Laura changed positions so she was reclined on her arm, looking down at Carmilla.

"Carm, you know I would never do something like that to you, right?" Laura said, bringing her free hand to Carmilla's face, cleaning the tear from her cheek.

Carmilla looked into her eyes and tucked Laura's hair behind her ear.

"I know, Laura. I trust you. If you wanted to use me, you'd have done that when Vordenberg offered you that job." she said.

"Ugh, don't talk about that sleazeball of a man." Laura made a disgusted face, making Carmilla laugh a little bit. "So, that's what Danny was referring to when she said you had destroyed Ell."

"Yes," Carmilla took a deep breath caressing Laura's hair, "and she was right about that. I _did_ destroy Ell's career."

"She deserved it, Carm. I don't blame you for wanting to take away what she gained by using you."

"You sure? A lot of people think I was the one who did wrong."

"How can anyone think like that? That raging b-... bad girl used you in the most cruel way possible, what you did was nothing next to it." Laura defended Carmilla, her hand flying about as she felt enraged against Ell on Carmilla's behalf.

Carmilla smiled at that, it was good to know Laura didn't think any less of her because of her revenge on Ell. She pulled the tiny girl towards her giving her a hot, fiery, passionate kiss to say everything she wasn't yet ready to put into words about her feelings for Laura. When they parted, Carmilla rearranged their position so that they were both looking up at the sky while holding each other and she started teaching Laura about the stars and the constellations, something she had always loved and had never shared with anyone before. Laura was content to stay there, in the middle of nowhere with only Carmilla by her side, holding her and murmuring about the stars in her ears, life could not get much better than this.


	17. Chapter 17

Two days after their first date found Laura and Carmilla enjoying a quiet night at Laura's apartment. Thanks to Carmilla's carefully planned date, the media had no news to report about the couple of the moment. Their date under the stars was successfully kept between them. They were also glad that Danny had not tried to contact Laura again. Apparently she had decided to slip under the radar because she had not contacted any of their friends either, which was just fine with Laura. All that the journalist wanted right now was some peace and quiet to enjoy her budding relationship with Carmilla.

Their first date had been perfect and Laura was feeling ecstatic about the possibilities of a future with Carmilla. She knew it was too soon to talk about forever, but deep in her heart she felt that she would want to spend the rest of her life with her. It was just something she knew, just like she had known she wanted to be a journalist since she was a child. It was just there, a certainty that had no hows or whys, it just existed. She could only hope Carmilla would come to feel the same way about her.

The two girls were currently curled up on Laura's sofa watching _Buffy_. They had ordered a pizza for dinner and had enjoyed a bottle of wine together. Their attention was often diverted from the TV show in favor of enjoying each other's lips. Normally, Laura would be mad if anyone distracted her when she was watching one of her beloved shows, but she had no complaints about Carmilla's constant interruptions, on the contrary, she was quite willing to miss a few minutes of the show to savor the other girl's lips on hers. After the fourth episode they watched ended Carmilla got up from the sofa stretching her stiff muscles.

"I should go, Cupcake, it's late and you and I have work tomorrow." she said.

"Is Oliver going to pick you up?" Laura asked, a bit disappointed that the night was coming to an end, but she knew Carmilla was right, it was one in the morning, they needed to sleep.

"No, I came in my motorcycle."

Laura frowned at that.

"But Carm, you can't ride your bike back. You drank half a bottle of wine."

"That was a couple of hours ago, Creampuff. I'll be fine." she said, giving Laura a peck on the lips.

"Stay." Laura said.

"What?"

"Stay here." The tiny girl continued, "it's too late for you to ride back. You drank wine, and you are sleepy. It's not safe. Stay here."

Carmilla looked Laura in the eye.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course," Laura said, starting to blush, "I mean, I would be really worried if you left now and I don't mean that anything has to happen if you stay, I know it's too soon for that, but I would just feel a lot better knowing you are safe and not out there riding on that death machine of yours and possibly falling asleep and crashing and I'd blame myself for letting you leave so please, please, stay?" she finished, giving Carmilla her best lost puppy eyes, which she knew the singer wouldn't be able to resist.

"Damn it. Why is it I can't say no to you when you make that face?" Carmilla said, trying to sound cross but not quite managing it. "And don't think I don't know you're aware of that and does this on purpose. I'll stay."

Laura squealed and jumped into Carmilla's arms, hugging her tightly and making the other girl laugh.

"Alright Cupcake, we better go to bed now. You've been yawning every thirty seconds for fifteen minutes now."

Laura blushed at that. She had tried to hide how tired she was from Carmilla so she wouldn't leave, but had been unsuccessful apparently. The two girls went to Laura's bedroom and she gave Carmilla some clothes to sleep in and a spare toothbrush for her to use. When they were both lying in bed, Carmilla pulled Laura to her and gave her a sweet kiss before whispering goodnight in her ear. Laura sighted contentedly and fell asleep as soon as she closed her eyes, Carmilla's warmth and smell lulling her to a deep, calm sleep.

The next morning, Laura awoke feeling a heavy weight over her. She opened her eyes to the sight of Carmilla, with her head on her chest and her arms around her, keeping her close. She smiled at the sight, this was the best way to wake up. Her contentment with the moment didn't last long, however. As she got her phone from her bedside table to check the time she realized she hadn't set up her alarm and now she was very much late for work.

"Shit," she said, trying to disentangle herself from Carmilla who held her tighter in response to her attempt to leave her embrace.

"Carm, wake up. We're late. We need to go."

"Noooo, please, just a little bit more." Carmilla said, snuggling even closer to Laura.

"Carmilla Karnstein, get your butt out of this bed right now." she said, while trying to push Carmilla away from her.

Carmilla opened her eyes and smirked.

"Hum, Cupcake. Who knew you'd be such a bossy girl in bed, uh?" she said in a low voice while climbing over a now blushing Laura. "I think I like it."

Carmilla kissed Laura with torturous slowness, her hands sneaking under her top to caress her toned abs. Laura's hands didn't remain idle, she tangled her left hand on Carmilla's black hair and let her right hand drift under her t-shirt, running it up and down her back. When Carmilla's hand cupped one of her breasts, Laura moaned in the kiss and pushed her into the bed, changing their positions without breaking the kiss. She started grinding her hips against Carmilla's, which made the singer moan and break the kiss in favor of trailing open mouthed kisses down Laura's neck. Just when Carmilla grabbed Laura's ass to pull them closer together, they were startled by her cellphone ringing. Laura jumped away from her with her hand in her heart, trying to calm down her breathing. Carmilla groaned in disappointment and picked up her phone.

"Yes?" she said, without checking the caller ID.

"Where the hell are you? You were supposed to be here half an hour ago." her sister said.

"I'm late. I'll be there soon."

"Carmilla, can you please try to take at least this seriously? You have a contract to abide to." she said angrily.

"I know, I know. I'll be there as soon as I can. Bye." she said, hanging up. "Seems like you were right, Cupcake. We are seriously late."

"Holy Hufflepuff, we are late and I let you distract me." Laura said, scrambling out of bed and running to the bathroom to take a quick shower while Carmilla laughed at her.

After she showered and put on her work clothes, she prepared some coffee and toast for her and Carmilla while the singer showered. They ate quickly and Carmilla gave Laura a ride to work before going home to change and grab her guitar to head over to the studio where she was going to start recording her new album.

By the middle of the afternoon, Laura was distracted from her work by a notification on her phone. She felt her stomach twist in apprehension when she realized the notification was about a new tweet by Sarah Jane. When she opened the app she saw a picture of herself hugging Carmilla, who was still on her bike, when she had dropped her off at the newspaper that morning. The tweet said, " _Things are getting serious for our favorite couple, seems like they've been spending their week nights together too now._ ". Sarah Jane's next tweet was also about them, " _We have yet to capture on camera these two ladies kissing. Come on, girls. Give us something here #HollsteinKiss_ ". This particular tweet had so many retweets that Laura chose to close the app and ignore whatever else Sarah Jane was saying about them. She texted Carmilla letting her know that they'd been photographed earlier and got back to work.

When she left the newspaper later that day, Laura stopped by a deli close by the building to buy some sandwiches and headed to the studio where Carmilla was going to be working late. When she got there the punk star was recording a track on her guitar, she stood there just watching her with eyes filled with admiration. Carmilla was a really talented musician and watching the way she was moving hers fingers with dexterity over the guitar's strings made Laura's mouth go dry imagining what else those finger were probably good at.

"You better close your mouth before you catch a fly, Miss Hollis." a voice she recognized said behind her.

She turned slowly to face Carmilla's sister. She was suddenly very aware that the first and last time they'd spoken things hadn't gone so well and Laura had left the other woman talking to herself in order to run after Carmilla.

"Uh, hi." she cleared her throat. "Hello, Miss Belmonde."

"Hello darling." she said, eying Laura from head to toe and making her feel even smaller than she actually was. "Let me make something clear for you. I don't like you. But Carmilla seems to be taken with you for some reason so I'll let it be. However, be aware that the first step you take out of line, the first sign that you'll do anything to hurt my sister, I'll be coming after you."

Laura gulped and nodded, she didn't think she would be able to say anything without letting it show how truly scared she was. Carmilla's sister oozed power and she had no doubt she would crush her like a bug if she ever thought Laura had done anything bad to her sister.

"Oh, are these the sandwiches Carmilla asked you to get?" she said in a completely different tone that left Laura unsure how to react.

"Uhu, yeah, these are the sandwiches and the drinks she asked for."

"Let's set this up on the conference room, shall we?" Matska said, leaving the room. Laura glanced once more at Carmilla before following her.

Not five minutes later Carmilla and three men entered the conference room in search of the food. The singer went straight to Laura, pulling her in for a quick peck on the lips.

"Hey." Laura said.

"Hey." Carmilla answered, kissing her again.

"Can you two please stop being gross and come eat?" one of the man said, making everyone else, with the exception of Matska, laugh.

Carmilla introduced Laura to the man who had spoken, J.P. Armitage, her producer for this new album, and Theo and Philip, who were sound technicians.

Laura really enjoyed talking to JP, he knew a lot of random stuff that kept her entertained while they ate. After all the sandwiches had been consumed, Carmilla got back to the studio to record some more of the base guitar tracks. Laura sat beside JP while he explained his work to her. It was almost midnight when they finally stopped for the day.

Laura and Carmilla said goodbye to everyone, the boys thanked the journalist for bringing them food. When they were at the door, Matska caught up with them.

"I expect you to be here by eight o'clock sharp tomorrow, Carmilla." she said.

"Yes, Mattie." she sighed, "I'll be here, don't worry."

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow." she said before leaving without sparing a glance in Laura's direction.

"I don't think your sister likes me very much." Laura said, as they left the place.

"Don't worry about it, Cupcake. She may be a little difficult in the beginning but she'll warm up to you, I promise." Carmilla said, taking Laura's hand and directing them to where Oliver was waiting with the car.

They went to Carmilla's place this time. As they had already had dinner at the studio, they both showered, separately, and went to bed. Laura was, once again, using clothes that Carmilla lent her. They snuggled up together in bed, sharing a goodnight kiss before they were both out like a light.

It was Saturday morning, the day of their second official date. This time, Laura had been the one to plan the date. She was a bit nervous since Carmilla had planned such an amazing night for them and what she had planned was not only during the day, but also somewhere public where they could be seen, recognized and photographed. But this was something she wanted to do with Carmilla, she was dying to see the singer's reaction to what she had to show her. When Carmilla arrived to pick her up in her motorcycle Laura's anxiety was so high she was almost climbing the walls.

"So, I know you're probably mad I made you wake up so early on a Saturday, but this really needs to be done during the day and I hope you'll like it because, you know, it's nothing like a picnic under the stars or anything fancy at all, just something I enjoy that I think you'd also like and I wanted to share it with you, but it's okay if you don't enjoy it and we can totally go do…"

"Laura, breathe before you pass out on me for lack of oxygen." Carmilla said, stopping to wait for the elevator and turning to Laura, cupping her cheeks. 'Whatever you have planned for us, I'm sure I'll love it, Cupcake. It doesn't really matter what we do, as long as we are together, it's perfect by me." she finished with the smile she only ever had for Laura.

Laura smiled back, feeling a lot better now and briefly kissed Carmilla.

"Thanks Carm."

"Now, let's go see what you took me out of bed so early for, Cutie."

When they arrived at the address Laura had given Carmilla, the singer looked around dubiously.

"You sure we are in the right place, Creampuff?"

"Yes," Laura said clapping her hands enthusiastically, "come on Carm."

The tiny girl grabbed the singer's hand and dragged her along the street until they were in front of a door with a sign reading _The Lost Path_ over it. Besides the door was a store window with a display of books, some really old and others new. It dawned on Carmilla that this must be the bookshop Laura had gushed to her about and she smiled at the honey blond girl, this was exactly the kind of place she loved discovering.

Laura noticed that Carmilla had finally realized what they would be doing and bit her lip in an attempt to control the huge smile that threatened to take over her face as she saw the surprised and very pleased look in Carmilla's eyes.

"So, shall we?" she asked opening the door and gesturing for the other girl to enter.

The interior of the bookshop was beautiful, completely the opposite of the indistinct entrance. There were shelves and more shelves of books going around the walls, they were made of a beautiful dark wood that gave them a noble appearance. In between the bookshelves the walls had maps on display instead, old maps, maps of fantasy lands, contemporary colorful political maps. In one of the corners there were puffs and small coffee tables where some people were comfortably sitting reading and drinking coffee. A huge lighted old globe stood in the middle of the bookstore. Looking up, Carmilla saw that there were books arranged as if they were birds all over the ceiling. She looked at Laura, her eyes shining with emotion.

"Laura, this is perfect. This is the best date of my life." she smiled.

Laura let the smile take over her face this time, she was so happy that she was the one making Carmilla smile like that.

"I'm so glad you like it,Carm. But you haven't even seen the best part yet. Let's explore here a little bit and then I'll show you the best part of this place" she said.

Together they spent around two hours exploring the book shelves. Carmilla found some rare books she wanted to get and Laura also picked up two books she had been meaning to read for a while. When they had scrutinized all the corners of the book shop Laura took Carmilla by the hand and guided her to the very back where a door leading to a stairwell was open.

"There's a second floor?" Carmilla said surprised.

"Yes, but it's nothing like the first floor."

When they got to the top of the stairs they were faced with a tunnel made of books. Above it was a sign similar to the one over the entrance reading "The Lost Path".

"What is this place, Creampuff?" Carmilla asked suspiciously.

Laura bit her lip, letting go of Carmilla's hand she started walking backwards in the tunnel while looking at the singer.

"Come and see, Carm." she said, turning around and running in the tunnel laughing.

Carmilla shook her head at the tiny girl's antiques, but she wouldn't complain, she loved this dork side of Laura. She followed her into the tunnel, when she came to the end she was faced with a wall of books. A literal wall of books, not books on a bookshelf, but books piled up to form an actual wall. She had two options here, she could go to the right or the left, she chose the later way. After a few paces she only had the option to turn right and she did so only to find more walls of books. It hit her then that she was in a labyrinth made entirely of books. She started laughing, Laura knew her so well. She loved this more than she cared to say, and her heart beat faster in her chest thinking that Laura knew this would make her happy and wanted to share this place with her.

"Where are you, Cupcake?" she asked out loud.

"Come and find me, Carm." Laura said laughingly.

They played in the book labyrinth like two kids on their first time at the playground. When Carmilla finally managed to corner Laura in one of the paths with no way out, she pushed her against the wall of books and kissed her so hard Laura was sure she'd never be able to breathe normally again.

"Thank you or bringing me here, Laura. I could not have asked for a more perfect day." she said, looking the tiny girl in the eye.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it Carm. There's no one else in the world I'd rather have shared this place with than you." she said, before pulling Carmilla in for another heated kiss.


	18. Chapter 18

During the next week Laura and Carmilla barely had time to simply enjoy each other's company. Carmilla was very busy recording her new album and Laura was being given more and more articles to write at the newspaper, which meant she was also very busy. However, they managed to at least see each other every night when Laura would go to the studio bearing some take out food for Carmilla and the studio crew, which included the singer's sister. They always sat together at a corner of the long table in the conference room to eat, practically ignoring everyone else while they fed each other and shared small kisses between bites of food, which always caused JP to cheer them on, making Laura turn impossibly red and causing Carmilla to scowl at him and threat to fire him and find herself another producer. Mattie always observed all of these little interactions with eagle-eyes.

When Laura arrived at the studio on Thursday, bringing with her Thai take out for everyone, she was greeted by Mattie as soon as she was inside.

"Oh, Laura. You're here, good. Everyone seems to be hungrier than usual today, let's set the table so we can eat." she said, taking one of the plastic bags with food from Laura's hand and heading to the conference room.

Laura stood there looking at her with her mouth agape, it had been the first time that Carmilla's sister had called her Laura and not Miss Hollis.

"Are you coming, midget?" Mattie asked, turning to look at Laura who hadn't moved at all.

"Yes, of course." Laura said, finally following the other woman. As they set the table, the journalist looked curiously at Mattie. She had used her name, she had yet to threat Laura today, and, even though she called her a midget, it had sounded almost caring, kind of like Carmilla's nicknames did. Laura smiled to herself, maybe she was starting to grown on Carmilla's sister, after all.

"Can you go get everyone, please, Laura?" Mattie asked.

"Yes, Miss Belmonde." she answered, turning towards the door.

"I think we can drop this Miss Belmonde business, don't you?" Laura turned back to look at her, "Just call me Mattie." she said, making Laura beam.

"Of course, Mattie. I'll go get everyone."

When they were all sitting at the long table each with a plate of food, Carmilla didn't start eating right away, she just sat there observing Laura closely.

"What?" Laura asked her, blushing at the intense gaze she was being given.

"You seem happy today." Carmilla said, tilting her head to the side with a look of curiosity on her eyes, "Not that you are not always happy, because I've never met anyone that can be as happy as you all the time, but it's like there's something bubbling inside of you, just waiting to get out."

Laura smiled and bounced on her seat.

"There _is_ something special today."

"May I ask what, or _who_ it is that has you smiling so much? Should I get jelous?"

"No need to get jealous, silly." Laura said, pinching Carmilla's nose affectionately. "I think your sister has finally started to like me."

"Really? Why do you say that?" Carmilla asked, glancing quickly at her sister who was eating with one hand and typing on her phone with the other.

"She called me Laura today. _And_ , she told me to call her Mattie. Isn't that a good sign?"

Carmilla's smile was just as wide as Laura's.

"That's a great sign, Cupcake. It definitely means she likes you."

Laura bounced on her seat again, she was so happy that Carmilla's sister apparently approved of her now, not to mention how relieved she was that Mattie didn't want to crunch her bones anymore.

"I told you, you had nothing to worry about. Mattie may take some time to warm up, but there was never a chance she wouldn't like you once she got to know you better." Carmilla said, happy that her sister decided to stop giving Laura a hard time.

They settled back in their routine of feeding each other and sharing kisses for the reminder of their break.

"Hey Laura, we won't be recording tomorrow because JP needs to travel. I was thinking maybe we could go out for dinner?" Carmilla said, when they were going back to the room where she was recording some vocals.

"I'd love to Carm." Laura said, putting her arm around Carmilla's waist and bringing her close for a kiss.

"No smooching in the corridors kids." JP said, laughing as he passed by them. Carmilla flipped him off and deepened the kiss. When they broke apart, Laura laid her head on Carmilla's shoulder.

"Are you staying here much longer?"

"Unfortunately, yes. We want to finish this track today since we won't record anything tomorrow."

"I'll get going then. I'm really tired today, I can't wait to fall asleep." Laura replied, yawning a little bit and pulling away so she could look at Carmilla. "I'll see you tomorrow night, then?"

"Yes! Pick you up at seven?"

"Sound great to me, Carm." she said, leaning in for another kiss.

"Carmilla, do you want to finish this song today or not?" Mattie said, appearing in the corridor and interrupting them.

"Coming." Carmilla grunted, which obviously prompted Laura to laugh.

"I'll see you tomorrow grumpy, have a good night." she pecked the singer on the lips and let go of her, walking backwards towards the door.

"See you tomorrow Cutie."

The next day, Laura thought that work would never end. She was so excited for her date with Carmilla that time seemed to have slown down just to test her patience.

"You seem to be on a sugar high today again. You are even more bouncy than normal" her co-worker Natalie said when they were leaving a meeting together.

"Nah, I'm just looking forward to the end of the day." Laura replied.

"Got a hot date tonight?" Natalie asked. Remembering that she had once leaked a picture of her flowers to Sarah Jane, Laura decided to lie.

"No, just a quiet night at home with Netflix and some junk food." she said, a blush covering her face while she looked anywhere but at her coworker.

"Hum, that's also good I suppose." Natalie said, not sounding very convinced.

When her work day finally came to an end, Laura hurried home to get ready for her date. She didn't know where they were going, so she chose an elegant black dress that would fit well if they were to go to a fancy restaurant, but it wasn't anything that would look too dressy if they went somewhere else. At seven o'clock sharp there was a knock at her door. Once again, Carmilla took her breath away when she opened the door for the singer. She was also wearing a black dress that made Laura's mouth go dry.

"For you, my lady." Carmilla said with a smile, offering Laura a huge bouquet of stargazer lilies and light blue iris stems.

"Carm, these are beautiful." Laura said, her voice wavering a bit as she picked the offered bouquet and gave Carmilla a light kiss on the lips, "Thank you."

"You deserve it, Laura." the other girl replied, pulling Laura back in for another kiss.

After the journalist had put her flowers in the water, they left the apartment to go to their date. This time, Oliver was waiting for them with the car. He seemed to already know where they were going, since he started driving without Carmilla giving him any instructions.

"Where are we going?" Laura asked.

"I was wondering how long you'd be able to go without asking that." Carmilla laughed. "You'll find out soon Creampuff, it's not very far."

"Come on, Carm. Can't you tell me now?" Laura whinned.

"And what would be the fun in that?" she laughed.

"I can make it worth your while." Laura whispered on Carmilla's ear, changing her tactics.

Carmilla took a deep breath, and closed her eyes.

"Nice try, Cupcake. You almost got me to say it."

Laura huffed and pulled back, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You have fun by making me suffer, how is it that I'm still going on a date with you?"

"Because I'm irresistible." Carmilla said, uncrossing Laura's arms and holding her hand.

"You are too full of yourself." Laura smiled, resting her head on the other girl's shoulder.

As Carmilla had said, the place they were going was not too far and soon Oliver was stopping the car and opening the door for them. When Laura saw which restaurant the singer had brought her to, she let out a squeak of excitement. It was a very well-known Japanese restaurant. Laura loved Japanese food and she had mentioned that to Carmilla at the beginning of the week, when she taken some sushi take out to the studio. They walked to the entrance hand in hand and Laura realized that there should be people around, coming in and out of the restaurant, and the door should have been open.

"Carm, I don't think they are open tonight." she said, deflating a little bit.

"They are for us." Carmilla said, opening the door and motioning for Laura to enter.

When they were inside they were greeted by their host, who directed them to a table right in the center of the restaurant, where some candles were lighted.

"Your waiter will be with you right away." he said, leaving them alone.

Carmilla was looking at Laura with a small satisfied smile at the look of wonder in the honey blonde's eyes.

"Carmilla Karnstein, did you do what I think you did?" Laura turned to her, eyebrows raised to emphasize the question.

"I don't know what you think I did, Creampuff."

"Did you close the restaurant just for us?"

"No." Carmilla said, looking away and failing to hide the slight blush spreading on her face.

"Then, how come we are the only two patrons here? This is a famous place." the journalist replied.

"Coincidence?" she said, trying to sound like she believed it to be possible.

Laura just shook her head and leaned over the table to give Carmilla a kiss.

"You're a hopeless romantic, did you know that?" she said once they parted.

"Only for you, Laura. Only for you." Carmilla whispered back.

Their night was filled with laughter, kisses and talking. Having the restaurant to themselves they were not afraid to demonstrate their affection for one another, especially since Carmilla assured Laura that the staff was trustworthy and would never leak a picture or information about them. When they had eaten more than either of them imagined possible, they left the restaurant, thanking them for the incredible food.

The couple decided to walk to a nearby park before calling Oliver to take them home, since it was still early. They walked around hand in hand in a comfortable silence. Laura found a good spot under a tree for them to sit and they stayed there resting against the tree watching the faint light of the stars together again.

"Thank you for tonight, Carm. I've had a great time." Laura said smiling, turning in Carmilla's embrace so that she could look into her eyes.

"You don't need to thank me, I'd do anything to see you smile like that." she murmured leaning in for what she intended as a quick kiss. However, Laura had other ideas in her mind and she quickly deepened the kiss and moved about so that she was straddling Carmilla. The singer didn't miss a bit before she reciprocated the kiss and let her hands start roaming all over Laura's body. The two girls lost themselves in each other, completely forgetting that they were in a park, very much in view of anyone walking by. When Laura let out a loud moan after Carmilla slipped her hands under her dress, the singer finally remembered their current location and put her hands away, breaking the kiss.

"Maybe we should move this somewhere more private?" she whispered in Laura's ears.

Laura pulled away and got up so fast that she almost fell down again. She looked around them, her eyes wide, searching for anyone who might be watching them, or worse, photographing them.

"I can't believe we just did that in public." she said, sounding a little frantic.

Carmilla got up and kissed Laura's forehead.

"Relax, Cupcake. I don't think we were caught. It's dark after all. Besides, what are the chances that a paparazzo would be walking on this park at the same time we are and would spot us?" she said.

"You're right. But we better head home anyway."

They called Oliver to pick them up at the entrance of the park. When they were inside the car, Oliver asked where he should take them. Carmilla looked at Laura, giving her the power to decide.

"Carm's place, please, Oliver." she said, confidently.

"Of course, Miss Hollis."

Carmilla bit her lip and then smirked at Laura, who swatted her arm and blushed, moving closer to rest her head on the singer's shoulders.

Laura was getting used to the feeling of waking up with a heavy weight over her, only this time, said weight was completely naked and so was she. The tiny girl smiled remembering the events of the previous night. After getting to Carmilla's apartment they settled in the sofa with a bottle of wine. Not long after, they were in the same position they had been at the park, with Laura straddling Carmilla while they kissed and their hands explored each other's body. Only this time they were in the privacy of the singer's apartment and had no reason at all to stop, so they quickly moved to the bedroom where they'd be more comfortable.

It was still early by Carmilla's standards, but Laura was hungry, the previous night had consumed all her energy. She decided to go out to grab some breakfast for her and Carmilla, while she let the broody girl sleep some more. After getting dressed in some of Carmilla's clothes she wrote her a quick note to let her know where she'd gone to in case she woke up before Laura came back and then left the apartment building glad to see that no paparazzo was waiting there to ambush her this time.

Laura felt like she was walking on clouds. She had never imagined that it was possible to love someone so much. She stopped on her tracks. _Wait. Love? Did I just think the word love in relation to Carmilla?_ She took a deep breath, her heart beating out of control in chest. _Yes, it is true. I love Carmilla. I am in love with Carmilla Karnstein._ She started walking again wearing such a huge smile on her face that people passing by her on the streets couldn't help but forget their problems for a moment and smile back.

The tiny blonde couldn't wait to get back to the apartment and tell Carmilla how she felt. Normally, she would have questioned her eagerness to say those three words when she couldn't be sure that Carmilla would say them back. But she just couldn't help but think that Carmilla might be in love with her too, or at least starting to fall in love with her. If that wasn't the case, Laura didn't believe Carmilla would be going through so much trouble just to make Laura happy.

She finally arrived at the café and ordered their breakfast to go. On her way back to Carmilla's place she was almost skipping, anxious to be in the presence of the girl she was in love with and to show her just how much she meant for her. She stopped at a flower shop and bought a few red roses to decorate the breakfast tray she was going to arrange for Carmilla. When she got back at the building the doorkeeper, knowing who she was, used his card to let her in Carmilla's elevator. Laura was drumming her fingers on her leg watching the floor numbers light up on the panel.

At last, the elevator stopped at the top floor and Laura got out. She was surprised to see that Camilla's door was slightly ajar and there were loud voices coming from inside the apartment. She approached cautiously, trying to figure out what was going on. When she was almost by the door, she froze at the words she could make out.

"You're just letting yourself be taken in by another upstart that wants access to your bank account." said a voice Laura didn't recognize. "Don't expect me to save you this time, since you were so ungrateful the last time. Just don't come to me for help when this _girl_ sucks you dry."

Laura's eyes were bulging, who was this woman and how dare she talk about her like this? She was ready to march in there and defend herself when Carmilla's laughter stopped her on her tracks.

"You think I'd be stupid enough to let history repeat itself?" she said, her voice colder than Laura had ever heard before. "I'm not some stupid, naivë girl who can be manipulated that easily, as you should know by now."

Laura's heart started beating faster.

"Laura is just a game for me."

The paper bag containing their breakfast fell on the floor.

"I'm just having some fun with her and when I get tired I'll send her away."

The red roses slowly left her hand and spilled around the floor.

"You have nothing to worry about."

Laura turned on her heels and went back into the elevator, hitting the button for the first floor frantically. She couldn't breath properly, her hands were trembling and she was blinded by the tears in her eyes. Just when she thought she had found her forever, she discovered she had found nothing at all.


	19. Chapter 19

_Danny was right, Danny was right. Carmilla was just playing with me. I should have listened to my friend and stayed away from Carmilla. Of course a girl like her would never be serious about me, who was I kidding?_

Laura was walking aimlessly after hurrying away from Carmilla's apartment. She was getting weird looks from people on the streets because of her overflow of tears, but she didn't care. All she could think about was how she was planning on telling Carmilla that she loved her and how much she would probably have laughed at Laura for that. However, other, unwanted, thoughts were intruding on her mind. Thoughts of Carmilla's soft smile as she looked at her babbling about a new article she was writing; thoughts of flower bouquets and closed restaurants; thoughts of the sound of carefree laughter when Laura did something dorky; thoughts of stars and a voice whispering their secrets in her ears. Laura couldn't believe that all of that had been just a game, Carmilla must be an exceptional actor in addition to being a great musician.

Laura wanted to believe that everything had been real for Carmilla too, that she felt all the things Laura had felt every time they were together, or simply texting one another. But she had heard Carmilla herself say that it was all a game, and she believed it. She believed it because Carmilla had never talked about her feelings, she had never even called Laura her girlfriend, which, she recognized, was a bit unfair of her to blame the singer since she was guilty of the same omissions. But Laura had never said it was a game, Carmilla had.

After walking for a long time, Laura found herself standing in front of Perry and Lafontaine's place. Her subconscious must have guided her to the friends she knew she needed more than ever right now. When LaFontaine opened the door they were excited to see Laura.

"Hey L. Finally gave in to the gossipers uh?" they laughed and then stopped abruptly when they noticed Laura's face. They pulled Laura inside the apartment before asking, "What's wrong Laura?"

Laura opened and closed her mouth but no words came out. Instead a fresh flow of tears started falling down her face. She threw herself at her friend and let the tears run their course while LaFontaine tried to calm her down. By the time she managed to control her crying, Perry had joined them, looking very worried at Laura's distress.

"Do you want some hot chocolate and cookies?" she asked.

Laura nodded, trying to clean her face from the remaining tears. LaFontaine guided her to the sofa, where they sat in silence while Perry prepared the hot chocolate for Laura. When the journalist had had a sip of her warm drink and a bite of a chocolate chips cookie, she finally started telling her friends what had happened while Perry and LaFontaine shared worried glances.

"Look L, I know that it seems like Carmilla is a bitch that was just using you." Laf said, "But maybe you should try to talk to her. We don't know what really happened, maybe she has an explanation for all of this."

"What else could she say to make it more clear LaF?" Laura spat, bitterly. "I heard her saying I'm just a game for her."

"Sweety, she must have had a reason to say those things." Perry interfered, "I'm not saying it was right of her, but you should give her a chance to explain. Remember, communication can solve a lot of problems."

"Yeah, you're right. Communication." Laura laughed humorlessly, "If she'd told me from the start what this was all about maybe I could have kept my heart safe."

"I'm sorry L." LaFontaine said, 'But I think Perry is right, you have to talk to her. Someone that closes a goddam restaurant just to have dinner with you doesn't strike me as someone just playing a game. She is famous, rich, hot, she could get anyone she wanted with a lot less trouble than she had with you."

"But don't you see it Laf? She only did those things to keep our relationship a secret because she didn't want people getting the wrong idea about this. She didn't want anyone to think that she was serious about me." Laura said, her voice cracking.

"Maybe you should get some rest, Laura. When you are rested and calm, you may see things better." Perry suggested.

Laura lay down on the guest room at her friends' apartment. She hated that she found some comfort on Carmilla's smell, lingering in the clothes she had borrowed that morning. She closed her eyes to try to sleep, but everything she could see when she did it was Carmilla's face when she told her she didn't accept Vordenberg's job offer; her smile when Laura sat her down on the sofa to watch her favorite TV shows; her cute grumpy face when Laura woke her up to go to work in the mornings; the look in her eyes when she realized where Laura was taking her for their second date; her blushing face when she did something romantic and tried to pretend she didn't; her sweaty face, eyes closed tightly when they made love for the first time the night before.

Laura let out a grunt of frustration. It was so easy to get lost in these thoughts and believe that that morning had never happened. She couldn't understand why Carmilla did all those romantic crap things if all she wanted was to have some fun. Wouldn't it have been easier to simply tell Laura that she wanted her and that's it? Why did she have to make Laura fall for her in the process of getting what she wanted? Her friends were right, she had to talk to Carmilla so that she could understand this. But it wouldn't be today, or tomorrow, she needed some time away from the singer before she could face this conversation.

Laura drifted off to sleep and only woke up hours later. She sat up on the bed and reached for her phone to check the time. It was only then that she notice the the huge amount of texts and missed calls she had. All of them from Carmilla. She decided to ignore those a little longer because she was definitely hungry and thirsty. When she emerged in her friends' living room, they were sitting together watching TV.

"Oh, Laura, you're up." Said Perry noticing her. "Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?"

"Yes, please, Perry. I'm ravenous." she said, joining LaFontaine at the sofa while Perry went to the kitchen to prepare something for her.

"Look L, there's something I need to show you. And I think it'll be better if you find out sooner rather than later." LaF said, turning to get something from the coffee table and then offering it to Laura. It was that day's newspaper, already open on the gossip column page. The wind was knocked out of Laura when she saw the pictures in the article. She started to read.

" _ **Carmilla Karnstein and girlfriend make out in a public park**_

 _By Sarah Jane_

 _We can finally bring to you a picture of our favorite couple kissing. That's it ladies and gentlemen, you can now wallow in your jealousy with these pictures of a steamy make out session Hollstein had yesterday at a public park. We caught sight of Karnstein and her girlfriend, Laura Hollis, when they arrived at a famous Japanese restaurant for dinner last night. We tried to go inside the restaurant, but we were informed it was closed for a private event that evening. That's correct, our badass punk star closed the restaurant just for her and her date for the night (Are you a hopeless romantic, Karnstein?). After they left the place they walked hand in hand in a park nearby and had a heated make out session, as you can see in the pictures below. They left the park together soon after these pictures were taken. What's next for Hollstein? Are we hearing wedding bells?_

 _Don't miss any bit of gossip about Hollstein, follow me on Twitter_ "

Laura felt numb. Someone _had_ seen them at the park after all. Now, she was not only broken hearted, she also had to deal with the fact that there were pictures of her and Carmilla making out on the freaking newspaper. Pictures that people were probably looking at and wishing they were in her place, not knowing the heartbreak that followed those "steamy" moments. Pictures that made people believe she and Carmilla were on their way to the altar, not knowing that the game had ended and Laura had lost.

"Laura?" LaFontaine asked hesitantly.

"Thank you for showing me this, LaF. You were right, it was better to learn of this now." she said, "I hope Sarah Jane enjoyed her brief period of fake gossiping, she won't be getting any more _evidence_ of this so called relationship to talk about."

LaFontaine smiled sadly at their friend. They could see that Laura was hurting, and they would hunt Carmilla down and make scientific experiments on her if it turns out that she really was just using Laura. But LaFontaine didn't believe that was the case. They may not know Carmilla that well, but what they had seen on the day they were all at Silas Bar was enough for them to believe this was all a misunderstanding and that the singer really did care for Laura. Now, it was just a question of convincing Laura of this and getting her to talk to Carmilla, which wouldn't be easy since the tiny gay was probably the most stubborn person alive.

They had dinner together and talked about everything that was not Carmilla. When they finished eating, Perry offered to let Laura choose a movie on Netflix for them to watch, but she refused it, saying she just wanted to shower and go to sleep. When she was back at the guest room, wearing clothes she borrowed from LaFontaine, Laura decided it was time to face the unread messages on her phone.

 **09:12 Carm:** Cupcake, did you seriously let me wake up in an empty bed because of food? What if I wanted _you_ for breakfast?

 **09:20 Carm:** Hey Cutie, where on earth did you go to get food? Are you making the flour for the pancakes? Raising pigs for the bacon?

 **09:23 Carm: Missed Call**

 **09:29 Carm:** Laura? I've checked and you definitely took your phone with you. Where are you?

 **09:32 Carm: Missed Call**

 **09:35 Carm: Missed Call**

 **09:37 Carm:** Laura, I'm getting seriously worried now. Please, answer me. If this is some joke it isn't funny, please stop.

 **09:47 Carm:** Ok, I'm going out after you. Call me as soon as you see this Laura. Please, be okay. I can't stand the thought of something happening to you. Call me.

 **09:50 Carm: Missed Call**

 **09:53 Carm: Missed Call**

 **09:57 Carm: Missed Call**

 **10:03 Carm:** Laura, I found the breakfast bag and the roses in the hallway. I think I know what happened. Please, answer me so that I can explain, it's not what you're thinking.

 **10:15 Carm: Missed Call**

 **10:17 Carm: Missed Call**

 **10:20 Carm:** Laura, please, I'm begging you, let me explain what happened. Please? I can't take this silence from you anymore.

 **11:30 Carm: Missed Call**

 **11:32 Carm:** I'm at your door Laura. If you're home please let me in so that I can explain everything to you.

 **11:35 Carm:** I'll stay out here until you let me in.

 **12:45 Carm: Missed Call**

 **13:30 Carm: Missed Call**

 **15:07 Carm:** Okay, one of your neighbours checked and told me you're not home. Where are you, Laura? Are you okay?

 **15:57 Carm: Missed Call**

 **15:58 Carm:** Okay, you don't want to talk now, fine. But please, at least tell me you're somewhere safe. Please, just let me know if you're ok, Laura. I'm worried sick.

 **16:22 Carm:** Cupcake?

 **16:58 Carm: Missed Call**

 **18:11 Carm: Missed Call**

 **19:00 Carm:** Laura, you don't need to talk to me ever again if you don't want to. But I'm begging you to just tell me that you're alive, that you're ok. I'll take it if you don't want to hear me out, but don't let me here worried, not knowing if something bad happened to you. I'll never forgive myself if any harm came to you because of me.

Laura didn't think she'd still have so many tears after all the crying she had already done. But reading Carmilla's messages brought a new wave of heart-wrenching sobs.

 **19:22 Cupcake:** I'm alive. I'm with my friends. I don't want to talk to you right now.

 **19:22 Carm:** Thank God you're okay. I'm so, so sorry Laura. I don't know how much of that conversation you overheard, but I swear it's not what it sounded like. Give me a chance to explain?

 **19:25 Cupcake:** Not right now. Maybe in a few days we can talk. I'll let you know.

 **19:26 Carm:** Thank you, Laura. I just want you to know that I never wanted to hurt you, you're really important to me.

Laura chose not to answer that last message. She barely slept all night, she kept thinking about how truly worried Carmilla had seemed to be. _That's not how someone who doesn't care acts, right? I mean, if I was really just a game, why would she be so worried about my well-being? And she did say that what I overheard wasn't what it sounded like. But how can I trust her? How can I know she's saying the truth?_

Feeling very frustrated with all the conflicting emotions in her heart, Laura finally managed to fall into a fitful sleep. When she woke up the next morning, the first thing she did was to reach out, trying to locate the warmth of Carmilla's body, only to remember that she had not fallen asleep on her arms the night before. Very reluctantly, the honey-blonde got up and joined her friends for breakfast.

"How are you doing, dear?" Perry asked.

"I'm better Perr. I texted Carmilla last night, she said she wants to explain what happened. I asked for a few days before we talk." she told them.

"That's good L. You need to talk to her. I'm sure she has a good explanation." LaF told her.

Laura spent the day hiding in their apartment. LaFontaine offered to go to her place and get some of her stuff, if she wanted to stay a few days with them. Laura accepted the offer gladly, she didn't feel like being alone in her apartment right now. After a day of ice-cream, pizza and Netflix with Perry and LaFontaine, Laura went to bed feeling calmer and more inclined to give Carmilla a chance to explain herself. Just when she was starting to drift off her phone vibrated on the nightstand.

 **23:18 Carm:** Goodnight, Cupcake. Miss you.

Laura felt a lump in her throat as she read the text. For a second, she considered calling Carmilla. She just wanted to hear her voice, but she knew that it would only make things worse, so she turned around and tried to sleep.

If there was one thing Laura didn't believe was that things could get any worse. How very wrong she was. The first thing she noticed as she approached the newspaper's building on Monday morning was that there were a lot of paparazzi at the entrance. She had a feeling of whom they were waiting for and sure enough, as she got closer, they started clicking away and throwing questions at her.

"Miss Hollis, what is your current relationship with Carmilla Karnstein?"

"Is it true Carmilla asked you to marry her last Friday?"

'Is it true you're going to be a newscaster on TV now?"

"Are you going to work for Vordenberg Media like it's being said?"

Laura ignored all of the questions and hurried inside the building. As soon as she was on her desk Natalie informed her that Betty wanted to talk to her. She felt her heart drop, surely she was going to be fired. The newspaper wouldn't put up with an employee that caused the tumult Laura did, even though she wasn't to blame. Dreading what this conversation was about, she knocked on her boss' door and entered.

"Laura! Good morning, take a seat, please." Betty said pleasantly.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Yes. I'm sure you already know what this conversation is about." She said, and Laura nodded.

"Good. The thing is Laura, it's not really ideal for the newspaper to have every other news outlet in the city camping at our door because of one of our employees. Not to mention the many calls we've been getting of people trying to talk to you. You understand that, right?"

"Yes, of course I do. I'll just grab my things and leave." she said with a resigned sigh.

"Leave?" Betty asked.

"Yeah, you're firing me, aren't you?" she asked confused.

"Firing you?" Betty laughed, "No, of course I'm not firing you. You're one of the best journalists to work here in the last few years, we're not letting go of you that easily."

"Oh." Laura said, surprised that she still had a job and by the compliment she received.

"I just have a suggestion to make our lives easier until things calm down a bit." She started again. "Would you be okay with working from home for a few days? We can talk to each other to discuss your articles on the phone, or skype if you prefer it."

"Sure, that wouldn't be a problem at all." Laura said smiling.

"Great. Let me tell you about this article I want you to write and then we can sneak you out through the back entrance of the building."

After discussing the new article she had to write with Betty, Laura left through the back door and caught a cab to go back to Perry and LaF's apartment. For the rest of the week, Laura worked from her friends' apartment. She immersed herself in her articles so she could avoid thinking about a certain dark haired girl. But no matter how hard she tried to forget, Carmilla was a constant presence in her thoughts. Every night, the singer would send her a text saying goodnight and telling her that she missed her, but she never pressured Laura to meet. On Saturday morning there was a knock at the door while the three friends were having breakfast, Perry went to open it.

"Laura?" she called from the door. "Could you come here, please?"

Laura and Laf shared a confused look and got up to go to the door. When Laura saw who was waiting for her there her first instinct was to run as fast as she could. But she was Laura Hollis, and she would not be intimidated. So she girled the hell up and faced her visitor.

"How did you find me?" she asked, her voice steady.

"I'm a person with a lot of contacts, Miss Hollis."

Laura gulped. _Uh oh, we are back to Miss Hollis._

"Now," Mattie continued, "If you could please come with me. I have business to attend to and I'd rather deal with you as quickly as possible."

Laura's eyes bulged at that and she took a step back towards her friends who were watching the interaction with interest and a hint of fear at the imposing figure standing at their door. Mattie huffed impatiently.

"Oh, for God's sake. I'm not going to feed you to a giant anglerfish girl. I'm just taking you to talk to Carmilla. I need her to stop moping around and go back to work, if you're the only one capable of managing that then I'll bring you to her. I'll be waiting downstairs, don't take too long or I'll back here to get you myself."

With that she turned around and left the three friends silently staring at the empty doorway.

"Hum, I think maybe you should just go L." LaFontaine said.

"Yes, I agree." said Perry, "And it's not like you weren't intending to talk to Carmilla anyway, right?"

Laura just nodded at her friends. Grabbing her wallet and her phone she took a deep breath and left the apartment to meet Mattie who was waiting for her with Oliver.

"You better know that the only reason you're still breathing is because what happened really wasn't your fault." Mattie said as soon as they were in the car.

"Right, of course. I understand. No problem." Laura said with a nervous laugh, but she relaxed a bit when she saw the corner of Mattie's lips lifting a tiny bit in a smile.

The rest of the ride was in complete silence. Laura was twisting her hands in her lap. She was going to talk to Carmilla and she wasn't sure she was ready for this. But she had no choice now, talk they would and what happens next was still a mystery for her. When they arrived at Carmilla's building Mattie gave Laura an access card for the elevator.

"Just listen to what she has to say, okay?" she asked Laura, who only nodded and went inside. She stood in front of Carmilla's door for ten minutes before deciding to knock.

"Go away Mattie. I told you I want to be alone." she heard the singer shout from inside.

"Carmilla? It's me. It's Laura." she called back.

She heard the other girl moving about in the apartment and cursing after letting something heavy fall to the floor. She opened the door.

"Laura?" she said, as if she couldn't believe that the honey-blonde was really there. "Come in."

Laura entered the apartment and sat down at the sofa. She noticed the chaos the place was in. There were pizza boxes everywhere, not to mention countless beer bottles and many ice cream pots. She also noticed how tired Carmilla looked, there were dark circles under her eyes, as if she had just as much trouble sleeping as Laura had. They stared at each other in silence for a few minutes.

"How are y…"

"How have y…"

They started saying at the same time. That caused them to smile at each other briefly. And then, Laura, taking a deep breath, tried again.

"How have you been?"

"Like shit." Carmilla answered with her usual honesty.

Laura looked down at her hands in her lap.

"How have you been?" Carmilla asked softly.

"Like shit too." she whispered, still not looking at the other girl.

"Laura, please, look at me."

When she looked up, her eyes were already full of tears. Carmilla closed her eyes for a second and then looked back at her, her face vulnerable, unguarded.

"Can I explain myself?" she asked in a trembling voice. Laura nodded.

"That day I woke up to someone knocking on my door. I was surprised by it and by the fact that you were no longer in bed with me. I saw your note and thought maybe it was you on the door, coming back from getting us food. However, I had the unpleasant surprise to come face to face with my mother when I opened the door." Carmilla made a disgusted face.

"She had a copy of that day's newspaper with her. I get that you saw that?" she asked. Laura only nodded.

"So, she saw that and she knew that something serious must be going on between us. If you were just a fling I wouldn't have let myself get caught in public like that. She started shouting at me, about how this was Ell all over again and that she wouldn't save me this time. How my reputation would be ruined by all these gossips and that she raised me better than this, that I was not a whore to get photographed in a situation like that in a public park."

Laura was listening intently, she knew Carmilla's relationship with her mother was not good, and she started to think that maybe she should have listened to Carmilla's explanation earlier. She had a nagging feeling about why the singer had said those things, now that she knew she had been talking to her mother.

"I don't know how much of that conversation you overheard Laura, but I imagined that you got the part where I assured my mother that you were just a game?" she asked looking Laura in the eyes.

Laura only nodded again, she didn't think she could speak at all at that moment. Carmilla sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. She got up and kneeled down in front of Laura, taking her hands.

"Laura." her name sounded like a caress in Carmilla's voice, "You were never just a game for me. You are so, so much more."

"Then why did you say all those things?" the tiny girl finally found her voice, even if it sounded weak.

"Because I needed to direct my mother's attention away from you, Cupcake. You don't know her, she is a dangerous person. I told you what she did to me and to Ell, not that I'm not glad to have discovered Ell's betrayal, but she could have done that without humiliating me in the process. If she figured out how much you mean to me she would go after you, she would do everything she could to try to take you away from me and I could not survive losing you Laura."

Laura looked into her eyes and saw that she was speaking the truth. She felt so stupid right now. All Carmilla had done was try to protect her and she had run away without giving her a chance of explaining.

"Do you really mean that?" she asked in a small voice, needing a bit of reassurance that she wasn't alone in her feelings.

"Creampuff, I know I'm not good with the feelings thing, but you can be so oblivious sometimes. Do you think I take any girl stargazing with me? Do you think I close down restaurants and bring flowers to every girl that catches my eye?" she laughed a bit, shaking her head at Laura, before cupping her cheeks and continuing. "I don't go about romancing girls I only want to fuck. You, Cupcake, are the only one I've ever done this for. Haven't you noticed it yet? I'm _in love_ with you, Laura."

Laura didn't know if she wanted to laugh, cry or kiss Carmilla and she ended up doing a sloppy mixture of the three. She lost her balance trying to pull the singer closer to her and both girls ended up on the floor laughing and kissing. Laura pulled away to look Carmilla in the eyes.

"I'm in love with you too."


	20. Chapter 20

"Creampuff?" Carmilla sleepy called from the bedroom.

"One minute Carm." Laura shouted back, finishing arranging the food tray.

She had decided that morning that there was no better way to put their misunderstanding definitely behind than doing what she had planned to do that fateful morning. So she got up early and once again left to buy them breakfast. This time the singer was still asleep when she got back and she had time to arrange everything.

Laura picked up the tray containing a coffee for Carmilla, a hot chocolate for her, pancakes, eggs and a fruit salad, and walked back to the bedroom. She had, once again, bought a few red roses that she put in a small glass bud vase and used to decorate the tray. When she entered the bedroom, Carmilla was sprawled in the bed with her eyes closed. She put the tray in Carmilla's dressing table and crawled in bed beside Carmilla, kissing her neck and going up until she reached her mouth.

"Hummm, this is my favorite way to wake up." Carmilla said, rolling Laura so that she was on top of her.

"Is that so?" she asked, giggling.

"Yep." Carmilla said, leaning down to kiss Laura again.

"Carm, the food." Laura said separating her lips from the other girl's.

"What do I care about food when I have a beautiful girl in my bed?"

"Well," Laura said, pushing Carmilla into the bed, changing their positions, " _I_ care about the food because, one: I'm starving, two: I hate to waste food, three: I wanted to do something romantic for you, and bringing you breakfast in bed counts as romantic."

"I'm only third on the list?" the singer asked, pouting in a very Laura-like manner. That made the tiny girl laugh and kiss the pout away from her lips.

"You're first on my list, but I can't very well do anything about that if I'm hungry or if you pass out from lack of nourishment, sooooo" she said, grinning and getting up to get their food, "we eat breakfast first."

"Fine, let's eat first then." Carmilla said, sitting with her back against the headboard while Laura brought the tray over and steadied it in the bed. The singer smiled when she noticed the roses. She picked one up and smelled it before turning to the other girl and putting the rose behind her ear.

"Thank you, Laura. I've never had anyone bring me breakfast in bed before." she said, giving a quick peck on the other girl's lips.

"Seriously? What is the problem with the girls you've dated before? I can't imagine anyone getting the chance to be with you and not wanting to show you how special you are." Laura said, her nose scrunched up in the way that Carmilla adored.

"I guess I just never had the right girl before." Carmilla said, her tone a mixture of playfulness and seriousness.

The two girls started devouring their breakfast, Carmilla realizing she was very hungry too. They ate in a comfortable silence, the kind that only people who are truly connected to each can achieve. When they finished, Carmilla quickly jumped from the bed, getting the tray and setting it back on her dressing table.

"Now, it's time for dessert." she smirked, jumping back in the bed, making Laura squeal when she almost fell off the bed.

"Carm, be careful." she said laughing.

"Jeez, not my fault you're so tiny and so light, Creampuff." she answered, pulling Laura closer to her.

"I'm not _that_ tiny." she huffed.

"Yes, you are. You are my tiny gay." the singer said, stopping Laura's next protest with a deep kiss.

They had decided to laze around the apartment that day, since neither of them felt like being in the newspaper again so soon after their make out session had been published in the gossip column. Carmilla had prepared them some lunch when they started getting hungry again and they settled in front of the TV to continue their _Buffy_ marathon.

The singer noticed that Laura seemed to be increasingly agitated, she kept changing positions and wriggling her hands together, a clear sign that she was nervous about something. She paused the video and turned to Laura.

"Ok Cupcake, spill. What has you twitching like this?"

"Twitching? There's no twitching. There's an absence of twitching." The honey blond said, while avoiding the singer's eyes and wiggling her hands.

Carmilla just looked at her, waiting for Laura to make eye contact again. When she did, the singer simply raised an eyebrow and looked at Laura's hands.

"Fine, fine. You're right." Laura huffed and Carmilla smiled.

"So…" the singer said.

"What?"

"Are you gonna tell me or not?"

"Yes. It's just that, you know, it's my dad's birthday next Wednesday and I haven't seen him in a couple of months so I was thinking of visiting him next weekend and I was wondering if maybe, I don't know, but perhaps you may want to come with me and meet my dad? Because he has been asking about you and when he is going to get to meet you, but you totally don't need to go if you don't want to, it's completely up to you and I don't want you to feel pressured because there's no rush really and he can wait until you feel like meeting him and I'll just tell him that it's…"

Carmilla cut off Laura's ramble by pressing her lips against hers quickly.

"Now breathe." she said, parting her lips from Laura's. When she saw the other girl take a deep breath, she spoke again. "I'll go with you."

Laura's eyes widened.

"You will?"

"Yeah, it seems important to you, so I'll go." she shrugged.

Laura squealed and threw herself at Carmilla, almost knocking the air out of her.

"Thank you, Carm. You are the best girlfriend ever." She said excitedly.

Carmilla bit her lip to stop the smile that threatened to take over her face.

"Girlfriend, uh?" she said, raising both eyebrows.

Laura's movements stopped abruptly, she hadn't really processed what she said until Carmilla spoke.

"Well, I mean, it's just, you know, we don't really need to, if you don't want that…"

"Laura." Carmilla interrupted with a serious face.

"Yes?" she answered.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" she asked, smiling at the tiny girl.

"Yes!" Laura almost shouted, "Of course I'll be your girlfriend, Carm."

This conversation led to another make out session on the sofa. When they had to stop to catch their breaths, Laura put her chin on Carmilla's chest, looking up at her while they were both lying down on the couch.

"Carm?"

"Hum?"

"You don't need to go with me to see my dad, if you don't want to."

Carmilla opened her eyes to look at Laura.

"I want to. It is important to you. I won't deny that I'm a bit scared at the prospect of meeting your overprotective father, but he and I have something in common that I'm pretty sure will gain me some points with him."

Laura looked confused at that. How could Carmilla know she had anything in common with her dad without ever meeting him?

"What do you have in common with him?" she asked.

"We both love this tiny ray of sunshine called Laura Hollis." the singer said, pulling Laura up to kiss her.

The next week passed in a blur with both Carmilla and Laura being extremely busy with work. Laura had gone back to working at the newspaper building since the paparazzi seemed to have abandoned their position in front of the place. They settled back in the same routine as before, with Laura going to the studio with food for everyone after she left work. She and Carmilla spent every night together that week, Laura had only been to her apartment to grab some clothes.

On Saturday morning, Laura was up bright and early. She wanted to start driving to her father's place as early as possible so she would have more time to enjoy with him.

"Carm, time to wake up." She said, putting the cup of coffee she had made for Carmilla on the bedside table.

"Noooo, please, don't do this to me." the dark haired girl whined.

"Come on, Carm." Laura said, sitting in the bed and shaking Carmilla. "If we don't leave now we won't be there in time for lunch."

"God," Carmilla said, sitting up, "the things I do for you Cupcake."

Laura smiled at her and handed her the coffee. They quickly got ready to leave, their bags had been packed the night before by Laura while Carmilla complained that her girlfriend was too busy for her.

It was a four hours drive to Laura's old home. They went in Carmilla's car, after Laura convinced her that showing up on her motorcycle was a sure way to have her father lock her up in the house and send Carmilla away, not mentioning the fact that they needed the space for their luggage. The singer drove while Laura blasted a Top 40 playlist on the radio, laughing at Carmilla's face with each new song. However, by the time they were close to their destination, Laura had managed to get Carmilla to sing along to the pop songs and even dance a little bit. When they finally stopped in front of the house, Laura's father came rushing towards them and put Laura in a bear hug as soon as she was out of the car.

"Hey dad." Laura said, her voice coming out a little constrained due to the lack of oxygen caused by his tight embrace.

"Hey pumpkin! How are you?" he said, finally letting go of her so she could breathe again.

"I'm great dad." Laura beamed. She turned around and pulled Carmilla by her side.

"This is my girlfriend, Carmilla. Carm, this is my dad, Sherman Hollis."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. Happy belated birthday" the singer said, extending her hand for him to shake.

"Nice to meet you too, Carmilla. Thank you." he answered, shaking her hand firmly and studying her closely. "Well, let's get in, shall we? You two can get settled while I finish preparing lunch."

Laura opened the door to her old bedroom and motioned for Carmilla to enter first. The singer dropped her bag on the floor and started looking around the room. The walls were painted with a light yellow and covered in posters of _Doctor Who_ , _Harry Potter_ , _Buffy_ , and others that Carmilla had no idea about what they were. The queen size bed was littered with stuffed animals and she had a Tardis bedside table lamp. The singer turned to the other girl with a smirk playing in her lips.

"Aren't you a neerdy Cupcake?"

"As if you didn't know that before." Laura rolled her eyes.

Carmilla laughed.

"I knew that Creampuff, but it's just cute to see you were always like this." she replied, putting her arms around Laura and kissing her.

Before the kiss could get too heated, Laura's father stopped at the door and cleared his throat loudly, causing the two girls to jump apart with their faces blushing.

"Lunch is ready." He said seriously and turned to go back down to the kitchen.

"Your dad is going to kill me, isn't he?" Carmilla groaned.

"Don't worry, he may seem scary at first but he is a big softie just like you." Laura replied, pinching Carmilla's nose and taking her hand. "We better go before he comes back to get us."

When they settled on the dining table to eat, Laura's father started his interrogation.

"So, Carmilla, Laura tells me you're a singer?"

"Yes, sir. I sing punk rock."

"Isn't that kind of an angry type of music?"

"Well, yes, it can be a bit angry." Carmilla replied, squirming. "But it doesn't necessarily mean that I'm an angry person or anything like that. I just really like how it sounds. And I don't do any crazy shit either, and I don't use drugs or abuse alcohol, or anything like that really."

When she looked up, Carmilla realized that both Laura and her father were trying to hold in their laugh. When she frowned confused, they couldn't stop themselves anymore, bursting into laugh.

"I know that kid, I'm just messing with you." Sherman said, "Laura told me a lot about you, I know you're not some crazy celebrity."

"Dad, be nice to her." Laura said, taking Carmilla's hand over the table and giving it a light squeeze of reassurance.

Sherman asked Carmilla many other questions about her life and her career, but it was clear that he only wanted to get to know her better and not find a reason to dislike her. He knew, by the way his daughter looked at Carmilla, that she was in love and that was enough for him to make an effort to like the singer.

Laura and Carmilla cleaned the table after lunch and did the dishes, even though Sherman told them they didn't need to do it. They spent the afternoon talking and drinking beer. Sherman told Carmilla many embarrassing stories from Laura's childhood, which had the tiny girl with a constant blush in her face.

"Oh, you're going to love the story of when Laura tried to steal our Christmas dinner, Carmilla." Sherman said, still laughing from the previous round of embarrassing his daughter.

"I know that one. Laura told me." Carmilla replied, cleaning the tears falling from her eyes because of how hard she was laughing.

"She told you?" he replied surprised, looking at his daughter who seemed to have developed a sudden interest in her shoes.

"Yeah, she did." Carmilla said softly, taking Laura's hand in hers. "I was having a bad day, and she was trying to cheer me up."

"Did it work?"

"Yes, it most certainly worked." she smiled at him. "You can't fault her for her good heart, though, sir. She was just trying to save the poor animal."

"You're right, she was always a good girl, always trying to help others." Sherman replied proudly.

"Can you two please stop this? I don't know how much longer my face can go before auto combusting in embarrassment." Laura chastised the other two, trying to look stern.

"You're so cute when you're angry Cupcake. Come here." Carmilla said, pulling Laura towards her and giving her a kiss on her red cheeks.

"You know what? I won't stay here listening to the two of you laughing at me. I'm going to take a shower." she said, getting up and leaving her girlfriend and her father alone for the first time since they had arrived. They both watched her go with smiles on their faces, they knew Laura wasn't really mad at them.

"Now that we are alone, Carmilla. Let's have a real talk, shall we?" Sherman said.

Carmilla turned back to him and gulped, nodding her head for him to continue.

"Look, I just want to be sure that you really are committed to my daughter. She's the only family I have and I don't want to see her getting hurt." he said, seriously.

"Sir, you have nothing to worry about. I love you daughter, I'd do anything to make her happy" she replied, equally serious. "I have no intention of hurting her. I won't promise that it will never happen, because that's just part of life, but I can promise you that I'll never intentionally do anything that might cause her pain."

Sherman nodded, smiling a little bit.

"Good, Laura deserves to be loved and to be happy. She's had enough pain in her life. When her mom died she was my rock, the one that could always make me smile through those dark days, even when she was in so much pain herself. I just hope you know how special she is."

"I know that sir. Laura changed my life for the better. I was alone and bitter before, I thought I'd never get a chance at happiness and then came Laura, literally barrelling into my life and making me smile again. I'm well aware of how special your daughter is and I plan to give her the world, if she'll let me." Carmilla replied, her voice a bit unsteady with emotion. "For as long as she lets me bask into her light, I'll make anything to keep the smile on her face, sir."

"Call me Sherman, kid." he replied getting up and pulling Carmilla into a bear hug like the one he had given Laura earlier.

"You Hollises are way too strong for such small people." Carmilla said, when he let her go after almost crushing her bones.

Sherman just laughed in a way that reminded her a lot of his daughter and offered her another beer. Carmilla was relieved that she had gained the approval of Laura's father, she knew the two of them were very close and how much Laura valued his opinion. It was one less thing to worry about, if only her mother could be like Sherman.


	21. Chapter 21

Laura and Carmilla left Sherman's house on Sunday after lunch. While Carmilla was putting their bags in the car, Sherman put Laura to the side to talk to her without being overheard.

"She's a keeper, pumpkin." he said, smiling at her.

"I'm glad you approve, dad." she beamed, "I love her."

"I know, I can see it in the way you look at her." He said. "And I can see the same in the way she looks at you."

"You think so, dad?"

"Yes, I'm pretty sure she feels the same way, Laura. I'm glad you found someone like her. I know I still have a lot to learn about Carmilla, but what I've seen so far makes me believe in your happiness. You two will take good care of each other."

Laura didn't really have anything to say to that, so she just hugged her father tightly, her eyes becoming suspiciously bright.

"I'll see you again soon, dad." she said, disentangling herself from the embrace.

"I certainly hope so. You'll come again soon, right Carmilla?" Sherman answered, looking over Laura's shoulder to an approaching Carmilla.

"Yes, Sherman. We'll be back soon. Maybe, after that _thing_ we talked about last night." she said smiling and wiggling her eyebrows conspiratorially.

"Wait, what thing are you talking about?" Laura asked confused, she didn't remember any talk about a _thing_ the previous night.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Cupcake? You'll have to wait though, 'cause it's a surprise."

"Dad, what are you two talking about?" she turned to her father with her best puppy face in hopes that he would cave in and tell her.

"Sorry, kid. That's between Carmilla and me for the moment." he replied laughing.

"This isn't fair." Laura pouted and crossed her arms over her chair. "You should be on my side dad."

Sherman guffawed at his daughter.

"Trust me Laura. You'll enjoy the surprise, just be a little patient."

Laura rolled her eyes.

"I had hoped that you two would get along, but I certainly didn't expect you to become partners in crime."

Carmilla and Sherman started laughing again at that and Laura eventually gave in and joined in their mirth.

"Let's go, Cupcake?"

"Let's go. Bye dad." Laura gave him a last kiss in the cheek and turned towards the car.

"You take good care of my girl, Carmilla."

"Will do, Sir." she answered giving him a hug, which surprised not only Sherman but herself and Laura who was watching from the car. Carmilla quickly let go, feeling her cheeks burn and with a quick wave she joined Laura in the car.

* * *

Two months had passed since Laura and Carmilla had officially become girlfriends. During this time, they had settled in a pretty domestic routine. They would wake up together in the morning, get breakfast and then go to work. At the end of the day, Laura would get take-out from somewhere and head to the studio to eat with Carmilla and her crew. Then she would wait until they were finished recording for the day and both girls would go to the singer's apartment. Laura's apartment had barely been used throughout these two months, only three or four times had the girls spent the night there.

The one thing the couple couldn't get used to was their continued presence in the gossip outlets. They thought they would have gotten tired of the two of them by now, but that did not happen. There was not a single week that passed by without a new piece about them being published. Thankfully, no photographs of another make out session made it to the public eyes. However, there were countless pictures of them holding hands, whispering in each other's ears, laughing together with their friends at Will's bar. Every single time they were in public together there was someone to take pictures and ask questions, which they continued to ignore completely.

Sarah Jane was going insane with the lack of confirmation about their relationship status. She had been publishing speculations about a wedding ceremony being prepared in secrecy at an island owned by Carmilla, _I don't even own an island_ , the singer had complained indignantly. Each piece of information that the gossipmonger "uncovered" about the supposed wedding preparations seemed to be more and more unlike anything that either Laura or Carmilla would ever want. The couple learned to laugh at these absurdities, but every now and then Carmilla would curse the gossipers and Laura would feel like going after Sarah Jane and putting her knowledge of Krav Maga to some good use.

On the morning of the last recording day for Carmilla she woke up before Laura for the first time since they had started spending their nights together.

"Carm? Where are you?" Laura called once she woke up to an empty bed.

"In the kitchen, Cupcake."

Laura got up from the bed and hurried to the kitchen only to find that Carmilla was not only up, but she was fully dressed and had already prepared Laura a hot chocolate and pancakes.

"What's gotten into you today? Why are you up so early?" Laura asked after giving Carmilla a peck on the lips and sitting on the kitchen table to eat.

"I had some things I needed to take care of before going to the studio today."

"What things?"

"Nothing much, Creampuff, just some details I needed to check for the upcoming days."

"Uh, never saw you get up early of your own choice before. I guess there is a first time for everything."

Carmilla just laughed at Laura and didn't explain herself any further.

* * *

Laura had a very productive day at work. She was quite happy with the fact that she now got to write many interesting articles and they were usually praised by her boss. By the end of the day she felt elated at having finished another big article that was requested of her. Deciding it was time to get some take-out and head to the studio, Laura got her things together and put her head inside her boss's room to say goodbye.

"Bye, Laura. Have a great weekend." Betty says.

"Betty," Laura laughed, "you do realized today is Thursday, right?

"Oh, yes. You're right. I don't know why I said that. Just forget it." she replied.

The tiny journalist thought that her boss seemed a bit uncomfortable, but she chalked it up to the stress of working at a newspaper and having so many deadlines everyday. After she got some pizza from Carmilla's favorite place, Laura headed to the studio where the singer had finished recording and was in the conference room discussing some post production points with JP.

"Hello, Laura." he said, when he saw her approaching them.

"Hey JP. How are you?" she said, setting the pizza on the table.

"I'm ravenous. You're my hero, you know that right?"

"You're always hungry, that's your default setting." Carmilla said, getting up to give Laura a quick kiss and help her set the table.

"Is it just the three of us today?" Laura asked.

"Yep. The rest have already left." Carmilla answered.

They ate their pizza while JP and Carmilla continued their conversation about the post production of the album. Carmilla called Oliver to pick them up once they had finished. The girls sat in a comfortable silence on the back seat of the car with Laura resting her head on Carmilla's shoulder. After a few minutes, Laura realized something was wrong. She sat up quickly and looked outside the windows.

"Where are we going? This isn't the way to your place, or mine for that matter." she asked, turning to face Carmilla who was biting her lip to hold back her smile.

"You'll see." was all she said.

"Caaarrmm, please, tell me!" Laura whined.

"You'll see soon, Creampuff."

"But Carm, I want to know now."

"You do realize the point of a surprise is not telling the person beforehand so she can be, you know, _surprised_?" Carmilla replied, with her characteristic sarcastic tone.

Laura huffed and leaned her head back on the seat.

"I supposed I _should_ get used to this, shouldn't I?"

"Yes, I told you I like planning surprises." the singer replied smiling at the tiny girl.

"Fine, fine. I'll just be patient then." Laura said, going back to her previous position with her head on Carmilla's shoulder.

When Oliver parked the car Laura had a frown on her face.

"Why are we at the airport?" she asked, following Carmilla out of the car.

"Because we are going somewhere for the weekend."

Laura's eyes widened at that.

"Really? Where are we going?" She asked excited.

"That is another part of the surprise Cupcake."

Oliver took two suitcases out of the car and put them in a cart following the two girls inside.

"You packed for me?"

"You didn't think I'd take you on a surprise trip with only the clothes you're currently wearing, did you?" Carmilla asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Well, you might have forgotten this small detail." Laura said.

She suddenly stopped and griped Carmilla's arm, halting the singer.

"What's wrong, Laura?"

"We can't go on a trip today." Laura said, eyes wide once again. "I can't believe this, but I completely forgot about my job up until now. I have to work tomorrow Carm. I can't just not show up. "

Carmilla who had been worried at Laura's assertion that they couldn't travel started laughing and pulling Laura towards the correct gate.

"You don't have to work tomorrow, you have the day off."

"No, I don't." the tiny girl replied.

"Yeah? Funny, because I'm pretty sure your boss told me you could have tomorrow off when I asked her about it. Didn't you write two extra articles this week?"

"Yeah, I did, but that was because…" Laura trailed off, remembering that Betty had told her to have a good weekend, and now she understood why. "Oh, that's why Betty wished me a good weekend when I left work."

"See? Don't worry your pretty head, I've got everything under control."

Carmilla had done their check-ins online, they only had to check their bags. They sat on the waiting area and could clearly see that a few people were taking pictures of them with their cellphones, they would be on the gossip column the next day once again. Two fans approached Carmilla and asked for an autograph, which she gave without a problem. Laura watched the interaction fascinated, the singer was very friendly to the fans. She was all smiles, and talked animatly with them about the upcoming album. It was yet another side of the singer that she was only discovering now.

When it was time for them to board the plane, Carmilla thanked Oliver for the help and took Laura's hand so they wouldn't lose each other in the sea of people.

"Where are we going again?" Laura asked, as they were waiting in line.

"You'll discover soon, Cupcake. You'll need this." Carmilla said, taking something from her purse and handing it to Laura.

"My passport?" she asked astonished. "We're going abroad? And how did you even get a hold of this?"

"Yes, we're going abroad. And I took it while you were in the shower the last time we spent the night at your place." Carmilla smirked at Laura's surprised face.

Once they were inside the plane, first class, of course, Laura tried to get Carmilla to tell her their destination, but the singer didn't say anything. It was only when the pilot announced the details of the flight that Laura discovered they were going to Paris.

"Ahhhhh! You're taking me to Paris?" She shouted excited, jumping in her seat, earning glares from every other passenger around them.

Carmilla just laughed while Laura hugged her so hard she believe she would have actual bruises from it.

"Carm," Laura said, her voice thick with emotion, "I can't believe you're doing this for me."

"You deserve it Laura."

"I love you."

"I love you too Cupcake."

"So, is this the _thing_ you and my dad were talking about?"

"Yep, this is it. I told him my idea and asked if he thought you'd enjoy that."

"I'd enjoy anything you planned for us, even if it was just sitting at your sofa watching TV. As long as I'm with you, I'm fine." Laura said. "But, of course, going to Paris is extra enticing."

Carmilla just shook her head at Laura's enthusiasm. The tiny girl was bouncing in her seat and she talked a mile a minute about how amazing Paris would be and how lucky she was that she got to go there with Carmilla, and how she would make sure the singer knew just how much she appreciated the romantic trip. To see Laura as happy as she was at this moment, Carmilla would do anything. She only hopped that the other surprise she had planned for Laura would make the girl just as happy as the trip. She was a little bit insecure about it, but she hopped that Laura would be as delighted with it as she was. She would find out soon.


	22. Chapter 22

Laura and Carmilla landed in Paris early in the morning. After they had been through security and claimed their suitcases they left the airport. Before searching for a cab, Carmilla pulled Laura to the side of the entrance and gave her a long slow kiss.

"Welcome to Paris, Laura." she said, smiling widely.

They found a cab that took them to their hotel. The girls took a quick shower and changed before going out to eat.

"Where are we going?" Laura asked Carmilla once they started walking.

"A place where all your dreams will come true, Creampuff. I'm not even sure I should take you there, you might want to take up residence at the place and then I'll be the one who will have to explain to Sherman why his daughter is never coming back from Paris." she said, her tone showing that she was actually afraid Laura might not want to leave the place they were going to.

"Ooookay. You got me curious now. This place must be like heaven."

"Yeah," Carmilla snorted, "the place is certainly what you would call heaven."

They walked along Rue de Longchamp for a few minutes before Carmilla stopped in front of what seemed to be a patisserie, though the facade wasn't that impressive for a place that was supposed to be like heaven. Laura looked at Carmilla with an eyebrow raised in question, a habit she learned from the singer herself.

"Trust me," was all that she said as she opened the door and motioned for Laura to inside first.

The honey blonde gasped when she saw the interior of the place. There was a huge table full of different pastries that looked one more delicious than the other, her mouth started salivating at once. She turned to Carmilla with her mouth hanging open. The singer smirked at the dazed look on the other girl's face.

"Welcome to La Pâtisserie des Rêves." she said.

Laura had a hard time choosing what to eat, but Carmilla assured her they could go back there the next morning so she didn't need to try every single delicacy that day. After getting their take out boxes, they took a cab and went to the Musée D'Orsay so they could eat their pastries with a view over the Seine.

Carmilla watched Laura as the tiny girl ate looking at the river. She was impressed by the amount of sugar her girlfriend was managing to consume, that could not be healthy. Another thing that bothered the dark haired girl were the loud moans escaping Laura's mouth with each bite.

"Could you please not do that?" she asked a bit annoyed.

"Do what?" Laura said with her mouth full of millefeuille framboise.

"Moan like you're about to have an orgasm. I'm trying to keep my cool here and you're making it extremely difficult."

"But Carm," Laura said, swallowing the sweet pastry, "my taste buds ARE about to have an orgasm. I've never ever eaten anything as delicious as these. I want to move to Paris and eat these every single day for the rest of my life."

Carmilla rolled her eyes at the other girl.

"Gods, what have I done? Your father will kill me when he learns I made your sugar addiction even worse than it was before. We are going to start controlling your sugar consumption once we're back home. Or you'll have diabetes before you're thirty."

"Sugar is life Carm." Laura said, pouting a little bit.

The girls had a great day going to the tourist spots in Paris. They went to the Louvre Museum first, Laura staring fascinated at everything Carmilla was showing her. They stopped to eat lunch at the Caffe dei Cioppi, an Italian/Mediterranean restaurant in a hidden alleyway. They sat outside at a table for two and ate a delicious Buffalo mozzarella salad with d'Antan tomatoes and Penne aux petits pois et jameon de parme (Penne with peas and Parma ham). In the afternoon they went to Versailles Palace where Laura fell in love with the Hall of Mirrors. They went back to the hotel to take a shower and rest for a while.

"Are you too tired, Cupcake? We can take it easy and stay in the hotel tonight if you want." Carmilla asked Laura, when the tiny girl had jumped into the bed after taking a shower.

"I am very tired, but I don't want to stay in. We're only here for three days, I want to enjoy it."

"We can always come back to stay longer."

"I know, but I'm just too excited right now to stay put." Laura pointed out.

"Yeah, you're still on a sugar high from breakfast." the singer said prompting the other girl to laugh.

They ended up eating dinner at the hotel restaurant before going out again. Carmilla took Laura to the Le Caveau des Oubliettes, an underground jazz bar where they listened to great music and had a lot of drinks while Carmilla tried to teach French to Laura who only wanted the singer to keep talking in French because it was so sexy.

The next morning found Laura and Carmilla once again at La Pâtisserie des Rêves. Laura made another huge selection of pastries for their breakfast, this time different ones than the previous day. They stopped by a coffee shop to grab a black coffee for Carmilla and a hot chocolate for Laura before going to the Jardins du Trocadéro to sit down to eat.

They spent the entire morning admiring the Eiffel Tower, Laura made Carmilla take _the most ridiculous photos ever taken_ , as the dark haired girl put it. The singer was actually having a great time, even if she enjoyed pretending to be grumpy. Laura's ebullient laughter was contagious; it was impossible to be with Laura and not feel light and happy. They made silly faces to each other, ran one after the other like two kids, and laughed hard simply because they were happy in each other's presence. Anyone who looked at them while they walked around hand in hand could see how much in love they were.

In the afternoon they went to the Canal Saint-Martin after ordering a pizza from the Pink Flamingo. They were given pink balloon with a picture of a flamingo on it so that the bicycle delivery man could locate them in the Canal. They ate their lunch sitting on the edge watching the water. Afterwards they explored the art galleries lined up along the Canal.

Carmilla then took Laura to the mini amphitheatres along the Seine in the 5th arrondissement where she started teaching her how to dance tango.

"Carmilla Karnstein, punk rock badass, knows how to tango?" Laura asked, a smirk playing on her lips.

"Shut up Cupcake, or I won't teach you." Carmilla said, trying to sound stern and failing miserably.

"I think it's cute, Carm." the tiny journalist said, putting her hands around the singer's neck, "Come on, teach me."

Carmilla shook her head and smiled at the smaller girl.

"This is not the position to dance tango, Creampuff. Here, put this hand on my back, and let me hold the other hand, like this." she said, taking one of Laura's hand's on her own and raising their arms together, while she put her other hand around the girl's waist.

She started to teach Laura the steps, but with her natural clumsiness, the tiny girl managed to trip on her own feet and on Carmilla's feet quite a few times. This didn't diminish their enjoyment of the activity in the least. They laughed together every time Laura made them lose their balance. Carmilla was always prepared to hold them upright. Only once the singer didn't manage to keep their balance and they both fell in a laughing heap on the ground. They stayed there, dancing together until twilight.

That night they had a romantic candle light dinner at the Le Reminet. They were both enjoying the chance to go out together without the perpetual presence of the paparazzi. Even though Carmilla was famous in the entire world, her greatest fan base was in the Americas so she had more freedom to walk around in Europe. After dinner they went back to the hotel where Laura made good on her promise to show Carmilla just how much she appreciated the fact that the singer took her to Paris for the weekend.

Their last day at the City of Light started with a last visit to the La Pâtisserie des Rêves, where Laura made a selection of her favorite pastries from the two previous days for their breakfast. They decided to eat in the shadows of the Eiffel Tower, since Laura wanted to go there one last time. After that they spent their day walking around the city and buying gifts for their friends.

By mid-afternoon, Carmilla told Laura she had one last place she wanted to take her to, so they took their shopping bags to the hotel before going out again. They stopped at a restaurant to pick up a basket the singer had ordered earlier.

"Where are we going? What's in there?" Laura asked.

"Curious as ever, aren't you Cupcake?" Carmilla laughed.

Laura just grinned and didn't insist that the other girl tell her what she wanted to know. She knew Carmilla wouldn't tell her what the surprise was and, if she was honesty with herself, she was learning to enjoy being surprised by her girlfriend. They arrived at the Bois de Vincennes park and walked until they found a lake. Carmilla rented a little blue and red rowboat that had Laura's name written on it in French (Laure), which made the honey blonde grin like a fool.

They went to an island in the middle of the lake that had a temple in it. Carmilla took the basket they had gotten at the restaurant and set up a picnic for them in a grassy patch that had an amazing view of the temple so they could sit to eat while watching a beautiful sunset. Carmilla told Laura that the temple was called "Temple of Love" and it was built by an architect in 1860, influence by the Rococo movement. Luck was on their side and they were the only couple in there that day. They enjoyed the superb food and the beautiful view by themselves.

When they got back to the hotel Carmilla offered to pack the gifts they had bought that day while Laura took a shower. After getting changed while Carmilla took her turn in the shower, Laura decided to check that they had packed everything. By the time the singer walked out of the bathroom Laura was frantically looking through her suitcase.

"What's wrong, Cupcake?"

"I can't find my keys. I'm pretty sure I never took them out of my purse, but now I can't find them anywhere" she said, looking confusedly to the contents of her purse that she had sprawled over the bed.

Carmilla took a deep breath and retrieved something from behind a vase of flowers in the mantelpiece.

"Would these be the missing keys, Creampuff?" she said, shaking them in the air.

"Yes, those are my keys. Thank you, Carm." Laura said picking up the keys while Carmilla bit her lower lip and watched Laura carefully.

When the tiny girl put everything back into her purse she got the keys to put them in their rightful place and just then she realized something was wrong.

"Wait," she said, holding the keys up and looking closely at them. "This aren't _my_ keys. This is my keychain, but these are not the keys to my place."

"They are if you want them to be." Carmilla said quietly, standing right in front of Laura.

Laura looked up at her with wide eyes, wondering if Carmilla was saying what she thought she was saying. Carmilla swallowed hard and continued speaking, looking Laura straight in the eyes.

"These are the keys to my place, but I was wondering if maybe, you'd like it to be _our_ place when we get back home" she concluded, shuffling from one foot to the other nervously, which means she was totally unprepared when Laura jumped in her arms making them both fall to the ground once more.

"Yes, yes, yes." Laura said, peppering kisses on Carmilla's face. "I'd love to move in with you"

Carmilla laughed, relieved that Laura had said yes.

"Good, but promise me something, Cupcake?" she said.

"Yes, what?" Laura replied excited.

"Promise me you'll try not to knock us both to the floor like this again. I know you enjoy being on top of me, but can we keep that in the bed? The floor is quite hard for my head."

Laura made an apologetic face and kissed Carmilla sweetly, "I promise, babe."

Carmilla smiled at the endearment. She was glad Laura had enjoyed the last surprise she had for her and now they would be living together, for real, full time. Yep, Carmilla was quite happy with that.

Link of the map of the places Carmilla and Laura went to in Paris: open?id=1AMFfnAFJAGwsfwRx1Nv6xWmv9gk&usp=sharing


	23. Chapter 23

On the weekend after their return from Paris, Laura and Carmilla mobilized their friends to help with the move. Laura's lease would end in three months, so Carmilla offered to pay the rent which the other girl refused to accept.

"You paid a trip to Paris. I'm not letting you pay my rent." she said a bit angrily.

"But I'm the one who asked you to move in before your lease was up, so it's only fair I pay the last few months of rent," the singer tried to argue.

"I'm the one who said yes to moving in now. Besides, I would have to pay it anyway, so it's not like I hadn't planned to spend this money."

"Laura, you can use the money for something else, or save it, whatever you want. Let me do this." The singer retorted.

"Just forget about it Carmilla, there's no way in hell or Hogwarts that I'm letting you pay my rent" Laura fired back loudly, standing on her tiptoes and poking the singer's chest with her finger.

"Gods, why do you have so fucking stubborn?" Carmilla cried in frustration, pulling her hands up in surrender. "Fine, pay your damn rent if you want."

They glared at each other in silence for a few minutes until Laura started laughing uncontrollably.

"Bonkers!" Carmilla exclaimed looking at Laura with astonishment clear in her face. "You've completely lost it now. What are you laughing about?"

Laura took a few deep breaths in order to regain control of her ability to speak.

"I believe we've just had our first official fight, Carm," she said, her voice rough from all the laughing.

"Oh!" Carmilla said understanding. "Does that mean," she continued, approaching Laura who had fallen on the sofa when she started laughing, "that we can have make-up sex now?"

"I believe make-up sex is a requirement now," the journalist said, pulling the dark haired girl down on top of her.

"Hum, I think I may start fighting with you more," the singer purred, kissing Laura slowly.

Just as Laura started to pull Carmilla's shirt up the doorbell rang.

"Leave it" the singer said, starting to kiss down her neck.

"Carm," Laura laughed, "we can't let our friends waiting out there to have sex."

"Of course we can."

Laura laughed and pushed Carmilla away, getting up to answer the door.

"We'll finish this later." she said, winking at the frustrated girl on the sofa.

Laura opened the door to find Will waiting there with a pile of cardboard boxes at his side.

"Hi Will," Laura said, pulling him into a hug. "Thank you for helping us and for offering your pick up truck."

"It's no problem Laura. That's what family is for," he said, winking at her and pulling the pile of boxes with him inside the apartment.

Laura blushed at his comment. Since the couple had told him that they were moving in together he had started making comments like that, calling Laura his little sister and humming the Wedding March song whenever they were together. The journalist turned into a red flag every single time Will decided to tease them while Carmilla would just roll her eyes, swat his arm and keep going with the conversation as if nothing had happened. Laura admired how cool and disaffected she could be when she wanted.

The trio started to pack Laura's things in the boxes Will had brought. The honey blonde girl and the singer had already organized everything during the week, so now just needed to put all the different piles of stuff inside labeled boxes. Soon after they started, LaFontaine, Perry and Kirsch showed up to help. The only furniture Laura would take with her was her bookcase, the rest of the things she was letting Kirsch borrow for the new place he had rented after moving out of Danny's apartment.

They ordered pizza for lunch and sat around the many boxes to eat.

"So, how was Paris?" Perry asked. She, LaFontaine and Kirsch had not had the chance to talk in person to Laura after her return.

"It was perfect." Laura said, her voice dreaming and excited at once. "Carm took me to this most wonderful place called La Pâtisserie des Rêves that had the best pastries in the entire world. We went there for breakfast every day."

Carmilla shook her head while taking a sip of her soda, _of course the first thing Laura would mention about the trip were the pastries_.

"Did you see the Eiffel Tower?" Kirsch asked.

"Yes, we spent an entire morning there and then we went back the next day to eat breakfast sitting there. I have pictures. I'll show you guys later."

"Awesome!" Kirsch exclaimed at the same time Carmilla groaned and covered her face with her hands.

"Why did I let you take all those picture? Why?" she grumbled.

"They are not bad, Carm." Laura said smugly, which only earned her a glare from the other girl.

"I can't wait to see these photos." Will said, a wicked smiled on his lips.

"No! No way! I'll be selecting the pictures that you people are going to see. And do not expect to see that many." Camilla said loudly making everyone laugh.

After they finished eating and listening to Laura's tales of Paris, the group went back to packing. They had finished the living room and now Laura and Carmilla were packing the stuff in her bedroom while LaF, Perry and Kirsch were packing the things in the kitchen. Will was disassembling the bookcase.

"Hey, Creampuff?" Carmilla called to Laura who had her back to her.

"Yeah?"

"How come you never wore _this_ for me?" she asked.

Laura turned around to see Carmilla holding up a sexy pair of red lace paties and bra, her face immediatly became the same color as the undergarments.

"Oh. _This_. I-I don't know. I think I j-just forgot about them," she stuttered.

"So," Carmilla said seductively approaching Laura, "now that you've been reminded of their existence, I'd like very much to see you in it." she circled Laura's waist with one arm, pulling the girl close to her.

Laura gulped as her imagination started to run wild. _How could Carmilla transform her into a stuttering mess so easily?_ She decided that she needed to gain the upper hand if she was to survive this relationship. Taking a deep breath she nuzzled Carmilla's neck and then made a trail of small, light kisses up to her mouth.

"Well," Laura said in a low heavy voice, running her fingertips lightly over Carmilla's cleavage, "if you are a good girl, maybe I'll wear it for you tonight."

Carmilla visibly gulped as Laura kissed a particularly sensitive spot on her neck and then proceeded to lightly bite her earlobe.

"Will you be a good girl, Carm?" Laura whispered on Carmilla's lips.

"Y-yes." It was the singer's turn to stutter in her answers.

Laura pushed the dark haired girl roughly against the wall and kissed her hungrily.

"Hey, lovebirds. Smile for the camera." LaFontaine said, taking a picture of them with their phone.

"Oh my, SJ is going to love this picture." they said in a singsong voice, dodging the yellow pillow that Carmilla had picked up and thrown at them.

"If that picture becomes public I'll make sure that on your next science experiment you won't be the mad scientist but the subject, Ginger One." Carmilla said irritated making Laura giggle.

"I like your girlfriend, L. She's got spunk." they said, winking at the two of them and going back to packing in the kitchen.

After a few trips on Will's pick up, all of Laura's boxes and her bookcase were moved to Carmilla's apartment. Around halfway of the move some paparazzi showed up and took a few pictures of the group and Laura and LaFontaine had to physically hold Carmilla back from going there and threatening to use their own cameras to beat them to death.

"Think of what this would do to your public image Carm, your sister would kill you." Laura reasoned with the fuming girl.

When all the boxes were piled in Carmilla's living room and Will had assembled the bookcase, the group of friends collapsed exhausted in the sofa and on the floor. They ordered chinese for dinner and while they were waiting for the food Laura gave their friends the gifts she and Carmilla had bought for them from Paris.

They had gotten a macaron recipe book for Perry, which she loved and promised to make some for them all very soon. For LaFontaine they got a home science lab kit that they thought was harmless enough for them not to cause too much trouble. They bought Kirsch a wooden Eiffel Tower kit since Laura knew he enjoyed this kind of assembling kit. For Will, the couple chose a box with the best French beers and a book telling the story of each one.

When they were all quietly eating their food, Kirsch cleared his throat to call everyone's attention to him.

"Hum, guys?" he started, looking nervously from Laura to Carmilla and back.

"Yeah, big puppy?" Carmilla said, interested in his weird behaviour.

"I have something to tell you guys. I don't really know what to think of it, but I thought you might be interested."

"Go on, Kirsch." Laura said gently.

"I ran into Danny last week." He said.

"Oh." Laura replied, frowning while Carmilla clenched her hands into fists.

"Has Xena done anything to you?" the singer asked, anger clear in her voice.

"No, no. She didn't. It's just that she told me something I thought was a little odd."

"Just tell us Kirsch." LaFontaine exclaimed.

"She told me she was working as a track & field coach assistant for the national team. But that's weird because she's too young and doesn't have the experience to get a job like this. She had told me not too long ago that it would take a few years before she could land this position and now, she suddenly got the job?" He said, confusion and a bit of fear showing on his face.

"Well maybe she is just really good and someone saw her potential?" Perry reasoned.

"No, no." Will said, "I'm with Kirsch, they don't hire inexperienced people for this. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."

Carmilla and Will exchanged glances, they knew exactly who could easily have gotten Danny this job.

"Well, that is very weird. I agree with Will. Something is not adding up. Did she say anything else?" said Laura.

"No. But she was kind of weird you know? Like, looking around as if she was expecting someone to be spying on us or something. I dunno, everything was just really sketchy."

"Don't worry about it, big puppy. We'll keep an eye out for her. And if she looks for you again, if she does anything to hurt you or say anything about Laura, let me know and I'll make sure she will regret the day she was born." Carmilla told him menacingly.

Laura was unsure if she should think it was really sweet of Carmilla to be worried about Kirsch or if she should feel downright scared about what exactly she planned to do with Danny if she hurt either of them again. She wasn't really worried about Danny, but she was worried what kind of trouble her girlfriend could get into because of her former friend. She would have to keep an eye on Carmilla to make sure she didn't do anything stupid, like killing Danny with her own hands for example. Life had just gotten a lot more complicated, but Laura being Laura, she was actually truly excited for whatever adventures would come their way.


	24. Chapter 24

"Cupcake, wake up." Carmilla said, kissing Laura's temple.

"No." she answered with a pout and moving closer to Carmilla.

The singer laughed at the other girl, she was acting very much like Carmilla herself usually did and it was really cute.

"Come on, Buttercup. We have a lot of things to do today. The sooner we start, the sooner we finish." She said, moving Laura's hair away from her face.

The tiny girl huffed with her eyes still closed.

"Caaaarm, you always want to sleep in. Why on the day I want to do that too you decide to wake up early?" She whined burying her face in her yellow pillow.

"Because we have to put all your things in place and I'd like to have the night for us, instead of having to spend it organizing your Doctor Who figurine collection." She said, laughing.

"Fine, fine. I'm up." Laura answered, sitting up.

Carmilla smiled at the other girl and stood up. She grabbed a tray she had left on her dressing table before waking Laura up and brought it back to bed with her.

"You make me breakfast?" The journalist asked, her eyes lighting up as Carmilla put the tray on the bed and sat beside her.

"I did." she said, giving Laura a good morning kiss. "Welcome home, Laura."

"Hummm, I like being home with you." She said, kissing Carmilla again.

The singer had made them eggs, bacon and pancakes, besides a hot chocolate for Laura and black coffee for herself. They ate in a comfortable silence, sharing a few quick kisses in between bites. After finishing their breakfast and making the bed, which Laura insisted upon and Carmilla just rolled her eyes before helping, they started taking Laura's things from the boxes and putting them in their new rightful place.

Carmilla had cleared one side of her walk-in closet for Laura to use and they decided that the clothes should be the first things to get organized. Laura put some music on while they worked, a playlist mixing songs that she liked with songs that Carmilla liked. Sometimes they would get distracted from the task at hand and start dancing in the middle of the room or Laura would start singing and playing air guitar, making Carmilla laugh until she could barely breathe because Laura had absolutely no musical talent and, sometimes, her air guitar playing looked more like she was playing the drums than anything else.

"Carm." Laura shouted from the living room.

"What?" Carmilla shouted back from the bedroom, where she was hanging Laura's coats on the closet.

"Can you come here a second?"

Carmilla put the last of the coats in the closet and walked to the living room where she found Laura standing by one of the boxes with a devilish smile on her face.

"What are you up to, Cutie?" she asked, approaching the other girl carefully.

"Put this on." She handed Carmilla a pair of woolen socks.

The singer raised her eyebrow in question, she had no idea where Laura could be going with this.

"Just trust me."

"I have a feeling I'm going to regret this." The singer sat down on the floor and put the socks on.

"Ok, let's put this clothes in place now." The honey blonde said, giving Carmilla a pile of T-shirts and picking up another pile to herself.

"And why exactly putting your T-shirts in place required that I put on woolen socks?" Carmilla drawled, eyeing the other girl suspiciously.

"Becaaaause," Laura said, "race you."

And she took off sock sliding on the floor towards the bedroom.

"Oh no, you don't." Carmilla said, following the other other girl quickly.

Carmilla caught up to Laura just as she reached the bedroom and put her arms around her waist, picking her up while she squealed and tried to get away. The singer set the other girl down behind her and took off again, making it to the walk-in closet before Laura.

"I win!" she said, pumping a fist in the air as Laura walked in.

"It's not fair, you cheated." She pouted.

"And you taking off before you even told me this was a race wasn't cheating?" she asked.

"That was a winning strategy." Laura said smiling sheepishly.

"If you weren't so cute, you'd be in trouble right now."

"Maybe," Laura said, approaching Carmilla, "I want to be in trouble."

She put her arms around the other girl and bit her lip. Carmilla narrowed her eyes at her but didn't do anything else. Laura frowned, she was certainly expecting to get a reaction out of her girlfriend. Suddenly, Carmilla moved so fast that Laura didn't have time to react. The singer put the tiny girl over her shoulder and carried her to the bedroom throwing the giggling honey blonde on their bad.

"You wanted to be in trouble? Let's see how you like it then." She said, straddling Laura and locking her hands above her head before leaning down to kiss her.

Their lips had barely touched when the apartment buzzer went off. Carmilla groaned and lay down besides Laura who was laughing.

"Come on, Carm. Don't be so broody. Come here." The tiny girl said, pulling Carmilla towards herself again and kissing her. The kiss was starting to get heated when the buzzer went off again.

"I'm going to murder whoever is in there." The singer said, getting up to answer it.

"Who is it?" Laura asked, coming into the living room right after the singer had told the doorkeeper that he could let the visitor come up.

"The Ginger Twins." She grunted and went to open the door.

"Hello, Carmilla. Hi, Laura." Perry said as she entered the apartment carrying a large pyrex dish in her arms.

"Hi lovebirds." LaFontaine said.

"Hello Perr, Laf! What are you doing here?" Laura asked.

"I thought you two might be too busy to cook, so I brought you lunch."

"Thanks Perr, that's really nice of you." Laura said looking pointedly at Carmilla.

"Yeah, thanks Ginger Two."

"I just need to put this on the oven." Perry said, indicating the dish on her hands and moving towards the kitchen.

"So, how is the organizing going?" LaFontaine asked, sitting down at the sofa.

"Slower than I wish it was." Laura answered plopping down next to them.

"Why?" They asked with a sly grin. "Something distracting you two?"

Laura blushed and Carmilla looked ready to kill someone.

"Oh my, we totally interrupted something, didn't we?" They laughed.

"I swear to the gods, Red Scientist. You and the Radish Cook have the worst timing ever and I'm inclined to believe it is your fault and not hers." Carmilla growled, sitting down next to Laura and putting her arm around her shoulders.

"It's not my fault you two can't keep your hands to yourself." LaFontaine pointed out, still laughing.

"It'll be ready in half an hour." Perry said, coming back and sitting on the armchair.

"By the way, have you two seen the paper today?" LaFontaine asked, getting a messily folded page from their back pocket and trying to smooth it out.

"There it comes again." Laura sighed.

LaFontaine cleared their throat and started reading.

" **Carmilla Karnstein and Laura Hollis move in together**

 _By Sarah Jane_

 _After an anonymous tip off yesterday we were able to get exclusive evidence that our dearest couple, the singer Carmilla Karnstein and the journalist Laura Hollis, moved in together. As you can see in the photos, they had a few friends, including Karnstein's brother, Will Luce, help with the move._

 _We've been following the development of this romance since the two women started seeing each other. However, Karnstein and Hollis still refuse to formally acknowledge the relationship. This may be due to the fact that the last time the punk singer made a relationship public it didn't end so well, as you all probably remember._

 _Regardless of their silence on the subject, the fact that they moved in together makes it clear to all of us that they are in this for the long run. And as I have reported before, I've been informed by a reliable source that a wedding ceremony is being prepared to happen at the Voavah island, which is owned by Karnstein._

 _Join me on this ship and don't miss any of the goings–on in the life of the couple by following me on Twitter. Don't forget to use our hashtag #HollsteinForLife"_

"This woman is definitely losing her touch." Carmilla snorted. "Does anyone want a beer?"

She got up and went to the kitchen.

"What's up with her? I thought you guys would laugh at this foolishness." LaFontaine said, frowning in confusion.

"I think it's because they kind of mentioned her ex. It's not my story to tell, but I can say that it wasn't pleasant, all that Carm went through." Laura replied, looking worriedly in the direction of the kitchen.

"Ooops, sorry L. I didn't think this would be a sore subject." They apologized.

"Don't worry. She'll be fine." The journalist replied.

Carmilla came back with beers for all of them and they drank it and talked about anything but the gossip piece until the food was ready and they could focus on eating the amazing lasagna Perry had made instead of the awkwardness the newspaper reading had left behind.

After Perry and LaFontaine left, the couple continued to put Laura's things in place. However, they were quieter now, no longer dancing or making pit stops to kiss when they crossed paths in the corridor. Laura decided to give Carmilla some time, it was clear that she was in her thinking mode and the journalist knew she would talk when she was ready.

It didn't take long for the singer to voice her thoughts. Laura found her standing in the living room rereading the newspaper that LaFontaine had left behind.

"Carm?"

The singer put the newspaper back down and turned to face her girlfriend.

"Do you think it's wrong that I don't want to tell people about us? Do you think that I'm letting Ell win by refusing to publicly acknowledge my relationship with you?" She asked seriously.

Laura approached the dark haired girl and took her hands in between her own.

"No, Carm. I don't think you're letting her win." She said. "What we have is no one's business except for us and the people in our lives that we care about and that care about us. All the others are irrelevant, we don't own them anything. The only thing they can ask of you is good music, which you always give them. Anything else, it is your choice to share or not and there's nothing wrong in wanting to keep things for ourselves."

"Thank you, Laura." Carmilla said, embracing the other girl tightly.

"You're welcome, babe." Laura said, pulling back a little to give Carmilla the bright smile that was reserved just for the singer.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Carm."

They kissed as if it was the first and the last time fused together, unhurriedly and deeply, exploring each other's mouth as if they were trying to learn all the details about the other, but with the confidence of old lovers. It was a promise and a confession of love and a plea for forever.

When they finally finished organizing all of Laura's things the two took a long shower and ordered a pizza for dinner, the lasagna had been entirely consumed during lunch. The couple settled down on the sofa to eat and watch a movie, they were too tired to do anything else.

"I don't want to work tomorrow. I feel like I need to sleep an entire day after this weekend." Laura complained. "My muscles are all sore."

"Do you want me to give you a massage?"

Laura's eyes lit up at that and she promptly lay down on the sofa.

"Yes, please!" She said excitedly causing Carmilla to chuckle. For someone who was as tired as Laura claimed to be, she sure had a lot of enthusiasm to offer yet.

"Alright, Cutie."

Carmilla straddled Laura and moved her hands to the girls back, slowly working out the knots in her muscles. Her movements were strong and precise, she clearly knew what she was doing.

"Where did you learn how to do this?" Laura asked.

"When Will was a teenager he used to play soccer. He was always complaining about how stiff his muscles were after practice and he'd beg me for a massage. I kinda learned how to do it properly after a while."

Laura turned so fast that she almost sent Carmilla to the floor.

"Whoa, what did we agree about not hitting the floor again, Cutie? There are only so many bumps my head can take." The singer said, after steadying herself.

The honey blonde girl sat up and cupped Carmilla's face.

"You were always a sweet softie behind all that bad attitude, weren't you?" she whispered.

"I'm not sweet or soft, that is you Creampuff, not me."

"Right, keep telling yourself that." Laura replied, moving in for a kiss.

The movie and the massage were completely forgotten after that.

The following day found Laura hurrying to take a shower and get ready to go to work. She was late again because she forgot to set up her alarm the previous night since her girlfriend proved to be such a great distraction to real life. Carmilla watched the tiny girl dashing to get ready with a fond smile on her face. She decided to be a nice girlfriend and help out, so she dragged herself away from the bed while Laura was in the shower and went to the kitchen to make them some breakfast.

"Carm, I'm leaving ok?" Laura shouted, coming into the living room where Carmilla was sitting enjoying a cup of coffee.

The singer stood up and grabbed a reusable cup and a paper bag she had set on the coffee table and handed them to Laura.

"Breakfast." She said.

Laura beamed at her grabbing the offerings.

"You are _the_ best girlfriend ever." She said, giving Carmilla a quick kiss.

"Have a good day at work, Laura. Now go." The singer said, swatting Laura's backside and laughing as she scrambled out of the apartment shouting.

"See you later, babe."

As soon as Laura closed the door after her, Carmilla took her cellphone out and called her sister.

"What kind of miracle happened for you to call me so early in the morning?" Mattie answered her phone.

"Maman is at it again." She said.

Carmilla explained the whole situation to her sister, who Danny was and how she had tried to keep Laura away from her and the sudden new job for which she is not qualified for. Mattie promised to investigate if their mother was behind Danny's new job and what she could possibly want this time.

Laura and Carmilla had been living together for two weeks now. They settled in a domestic routine pretty fast. They always had breakfast together in the morning, with a lot of fruits, fresh juice, toast and yogurt because, as Carmilla said, _you need to eat better if you want to make it to an old age, Cupcake._ Laura would complain about the lack of chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate until Carmilla silenced her with a kiss, which tasted a lot better than any sugary concoction; after a few days the journalist started to complain only to get the "shut up" kiss from her girlfriend. When it was possible they would get lunch together before the singer had to go to the studio to work with JP on the post -production of her new album. Laura always got home before Carmilla did and used the time alone to do their laundry or clean the apartment. The singer had decided that she would be the one responsible for making them dinner, since the experience of letting Laura cook for them one night when she was late at the studio made her realize that having her girlfriend cooking was the equivalent of having a small hurricane in the kitchen.

Mattie had investigated Danny's case as Carmilla requested, but so far she had not found any connection between their mother and the tall redhead's new job. Still, the singer couldn't shake the feeling that her mother was somehow involved with this.

"How could your mother even know Danny?" Laura had asked her when she told her about her suspicions.

"My mother knows a lot of people, and I'm pretty sure she has not lost her habit of having some of them keep an eye on me. For all I know, she's been better informed about our relationship than Sarah Jane." Carmilla replied.

"But I don't understand what she can hope to accomplish by giving Danny a job."

"She may have asked her to cause trouble for us."

"Your mother is a very bad person, Carm. What could she gain by making you suffer? What kind of mother does that?" The journalist said frowning.

"She has never forgiven me for not following her footsteps. She wanted me to become the new her and I refused. It's as simple as that, Cupcake."

"Well, I don't like the way she treats you and if she thinks that she can just meddle in our lives to hurt you she is very wrong. I won't let her do anything to you. She'll have to get past me first. And I have no qualms about using my stock of bear spray if needed." Laura said, standing up and moving her hands about in a threatening way. Camilla had to concede that for such a tiny person Laura could look pretty scary when she wanted.

The couple met with LaFontaine, Perry and Kirsch at Will's bar that Friday. They updated each other on what had happened in their lives since the day they had helped Laura move. No one had seen Danny again and she had not tried to contact any of them.

"Did Mattie discover anything, Kitty?" Will asked his sister.

"Nothing," she sighed, "as far as she can tell, Maman had nothing to do with Xena's new job."

"I still think she had something to do with it. She probably bribed the girl to try to take Laura away from you."

"Is your mother really such a horrible person?" LaFontaine asked.

"You have no idea." Was Will's response.

"What are we going to do about her, then? How do we find out if she's really plotting something nefarious?" Laura asked.

"You don't do anything against my mother Cupcake. She's too powerful, we can only hope not to fall in any of her traps."

"There must be something we can do. We cannot live in fear of what she's going to do." Laura said hotly. "Maybe I should call Danny."

"You are _not_ getting anywhere near Xena." Carmilla growled.

"Wouldn't it be better to just wait? Maybe we are wrong and your mother didn't do anything." Perry intervened.

"For once, I'm with you Tweedledum." Carmilla said raising her beer towards Perry. "If Mattie finds out anything we can take action, if there's anything we can do. Until then, we wait."

The friends continued talking and dancing the night away, the alcohol and the music making them forget their problems for a while. When they finally left the bar, Carmilla and Laura stood hand in hand waiting for Oliver to arrive to pick them up. The singer was laughing at a story Laura was telling her about the time LaFontaine had managed to set the university library on fire in the middle of the night when, all of a sudden, she stopped laughing and moving.

"Carm?" Laura asked, worried about the terrified look on her girlfriend's face.

"It's her." Carmilla whispered hoarsely.

"Who?" Laura asked looking around and seeing no one.

"Ell." The singer answered pointing to an enormous billboard on the other side of the street.


	25. Chapter 25

The ride home was made in strained silence. Carmilla was fidgeting on the back seat beside Laura. The journalist could feel the tension coming from the singer's body and she didn't blame her for it. Ell wasn't supposed to be modeling again at all. Mattie had said it would be impossible for her to find another agency that would accept her and yet, she was making a career comeback. Carmilla started biting her nails, which showed how apprehensive she really was, that was the first time Laura had seen her do that. The honey blonde took her girlfriend's hands in hers to stop the nervous movement. She silently caressed her knuckles to show that she was there with Carmilla, no matter what happened next.

When they finally entered the apartment, Carmilla called Mattie and put it on speakerphone so that Laura could be a part of the conversation.

"Hello Kitty Cat."

"Mattie, can you please explain to me why the fuck I've just seen a billboard with Ell on it?"

"What? That's not possible."

"Then Laura and I are hallucinating, maybe Will's been selling beer past the expiration date at Silas." She said sarcastically.

"Just tell me what you saw." Mattie replied calmly.

"There's a huge billboard," Laura said, "in front of Will's bar. I think it's for a sports apparel brand? I'm not sure, but she was only wearing a sports bra and yoga pants."

"She wasn't supposed to be modeling here ever again, Mattie. You said she wouldn't be able to." Carmilla added, angrily.

"Calm down, Carmilla. I'll verify what happened and what agency has taken her in and take care of it. Until then, stay out of trouble. Don't go looking for her yourself, do you hear me?"

"Yes."

"Laura, I'm trusting you to keep an eye on Carmilla, okay?"

"What the actual fuck, Mattie? I don't need a babysitter."

"Laura?" Was all that Mattie said.

Laura looked from the phone to Carmilla and back again with a scared look on her face. She didn't dare saying no to Mattie, but she also didn't want Carmilla to think she didn't trust her to keep her word.

"I-I th-think that Carm knows better than to go looking for Ell, Mattie. I'm sure we'll stay out of trouble." She chose to say.

"Not really the answer I wanted, but it'll do. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Mattie replied and hung up.

Laura could see that Carmilla was still mad and tense and all sorts of messed up at the moment. She sat at sofa looking out the ceiling to floor glass window, but her eyes were clearly not seeing the beautiful view in front of her. The tiny girl approached her quietly and sat down beside her.

"Hey Carm." She said in a soft, whispery voice, taking the other girl's hands in between hers.

When Carmilla turned and focused her attention on Laura's face, she continued speaking.

"We'll get to the bottom of this and solve it together, okay? You don't have to worry. I'm here now and I'll take care of you. If Ell came back with the intention of hurting you, she'll be in for a surprise because I have no intention of letting her get near you ever again. And if your mom is somehow involved in this we'll take care of her too. Whatever they're planning, we'll deal with it together, okay?"

"Together." Carmilla said, swallowing hard and taking her hands away from Laura's in order to cup the other girl's face and kiss her as if her life depended on it.

The next morning, Laura convinced Carmilla to go get breakfast out. Not that she had too much trouble getting the dark haired girl to agree. All she had to do was look at her girlfriend with her puppy eyes and a pout when she said she didn't want to go out and Carmilla caved in. They decided to go to the pancake place Laura had introduced the singer to. On their way there, on Carmilla's motorcycle, they saw another two billboards with Ell.

Laura was trying hard to keep her insecurities at bay. She knew that Carmilla had loved Ell once, but she had never seen the girl before. Now that she got to see what her girlfriend's ex looked like, she felt inadequate. Ell was beautiful. She had luxuriant straight blond hair, glacial blue eyes, alluring lips that looked very kissable, her skin was unblemished, _although_ , Laura thought, _this might just be photoshop_. Laura knew, without having to see it, that Carmilla and Ell would form a dazzling couple. She knew that Carmilla would never go back to Ell, but she also knew that Carmilla could have any girl she wanted, why would she settle for someone as unremarkable as her?

When they sat down at the same booth from the first time they went there together, Carmilla seemed to notice Laura slightly gloomy mood.

"What's wrong, Cupcake?"

"What? There's nothing wrong." Laura said, picking up the menu to read even though she always ordered the same thing.

Carmilla took the menu from her hands so that she couldn't keep hiding behind it.

"Come on, tell me what's going on in that overactive brain of yours."

"Ell is beautiful." Laura finally said, looking away from her girlfriend.

The singer made a confused face. This was not was she was expecting.

"Yes, she is beautiful. So what?"

Laura sighed and didn't add anything else. Carmilla cocked her head to the side and observed the honey blonde girl. Then, it dawned on her why Ell being beautiful disturbed her tiny girlfriend.

"Hey, Laura." She said. "You want me to tell the story of the time I saw _the_ most beautiful woman I have ever seen for the first time?"

Laura looked at her, gulped and noded. She knew the story of how Carmilla and Ell had met, but maybe the singer was going to be more specific about what she thought of Ell when she first saw her. Before Carmilla could start speaking though, the waiter came to take their orders. When he left them alone, the dark haired girl started talking.

"It was just another day in my life, really, when I saw this woman. I was certainly not expecting anything out of the ordinary to happen. I was at this party that my brother invited me to, but it wasn't all that good and I wasn't in a very sociable mood, can you imagine that?" She chuckled and got a little giggle from Laura, which was what she wanted.

"So I decided I'd be better off going somewhere else for good food and wine. There's a restaurant that's a favorite of mine and that I can always get a table at, no matter what time I arrive there, so I chose to go to this place. I had a delicious dinner and some wine, in a far table where I could sit unnoticed. When I was leaving the restaurant, the beautiful woman I've ever seen came out of nowhere and almost sent me to the floor, which seems to be a bad habit she has, actually."

Laura's eyes were brimming with tears by now. She didn't even know how to name the emotion she was feeling. It was a mixture of elation, love, self-confidence, and even a little bit of pride.

"When I got home that night all I could think about was that beautiful woman and how foolish I had been to let her go without trying to get a name and a phone number first. It was my luck that the universe gave me another chance to run into her or I would have lost my chance with this wonderful woman." Carmilla finished with the brightest smile Laura had ever seen on her face.

The waiter arrived with their food, quickly put their plates on the table and left, eyeing a crying Laura curiously.

"Carm, I.. you just. I mean… you have..." The tiny girl tried to speak, but she couldn't get her thoughts out of her mouth while so many emotions were swirling inside of her. She settled for simply pulling Carmilla towards her and kissing her hard, hoping that was enough to make her girlfriend understand how much she meant to her and how much she loved her.

After that their breakfast went smoothly. Laura was back to her shiny disposition, knowing that Carmilla believed her to be more beautiful than Ell worked miracles for her self-confidence, which was something Carmilla couldn't understand; she couldn't see how Laura didn't know how beautiful she was inside and out. Laura talked about her work with enthusiasm, telling Carmilla about her ideas for future articles and how she thought she could help the world be a better place by telling people the truth. Most of her ideas were already familiar to the singer, but right now all Laura wanted was to distract her from their problem that was spread around town in huge billboards.

When they got back home, Carmilla wanted to call Mattie, but Laura managed to convince her to wait because her sister would certainly call as soon as she knew anything. Around the middle of the afternoon, the doorbell rang and Laura opened it to find Mattie and Will there.

"Hello, Mattie. Hi Will." She said, opening the door wide for them to come in.

"Hi little sister!" Will said, hugging Laura so hard that her feet came off the floor. She rolled her eyes at him when he put her back down.

"Hello, Laura," Mattie said, "where's Carmilla?"

"I'm here." Carmilla said, coming into the living room. "Why's Will here too?"

"What? I'm not welcome at your humble abode if it's not to bring you alcohol?" Will asked, hands over his heart, feigning being hurt by her words. Carmilla just ignored him.

"He wanted to know what I found out too." Mattie said, sitting down at one of the armchairs. "Sit." She ordered them all.

"Did you find out which agency took Ell in?" Laura asked as soon as she sat down at the sofa besides Carmilla, taking the singer's hand in hers.

"Yes, I did. However..."

"Good. Have you contacted them about letting her go?" The singer interrupted.

"As I was saying, we won't be able to stop Ell this time, not like this at least."

"What do you mean?" Laura asked, scrunching up her face.

"The agency Ell is modeling for, is _her_ agency."

"What?" Carmilla and Will cried together while Laura just let her mouth fall open.

"It seems like the little imp is not totally useless. She invested the money she made while she was with you Kitty Cat and now she has opened her own agency. They have a few contracts with some brands, but nothing we can really stop."

"You mean to tell me," Carmilla said through gritted teeth, "that we can do nothing to stop her staying here?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Mattie said.

"But why would she come back? Do you know if she's here because of Carmilla?" Will asked.

"So far, she has done nothing to indicate that she means to contact Carmilla at all. But we can never be too careful, she could be after revenge. I have someone keeping an eye on her, they'll let me know if she behaves suspiciously."

"And your mother? She has nothing to do with this?" The journalist asked.

"No. I have double checked their possible connection and found nothing. As obsessed with Carmilla as Maman is, she isn't behind Ell's presence here."

"I don't buy it, I don't think Ell would came back here if she didn't want something from this. I know her, she's the most manipulative person that exists, after our mother." Carmilla got up and started pacing. "I could go talk to her, ask her what she wants."

"No." Laura, Mattie and Will said at once.

"I will talk to her. I invite her to Silas and get her drunk enough to spill the beans." Will said.

"No, I will talk to her, I can do it. I'll give her a piece of my mind and I'll make sure she knows not to get near Carm or I'll use my Krav Maga knowledge on her." The honey blond said, fists up in the air in angry movements.

"No!" Mattie interrupted. "None of you is going to talk to her. I'm keeping an eye on Ell and if she steps out of the line I'll take care of it. I don't want any of you trying to talk to her. I'd rather not have to do damage control in case one of you gets in trouble with her and the media catches wind of it. Have I made myself clear?"

They all nodded in agreement, albeit they seemed a bit reluctant to do so, but who could really say no to Mattie?

Later that same day, Laura stood quietly in the doorway of the room Carmilla used to keep her instruments and work on her music. The singer was playing the acoustic guitar and scribbling down on a writing pad what, Laura thought, was a new song she was composing. It sounded angry. The honey blonde decided that her girlfriend needed a distraction from their problems right now and she knew just the thing to do.

She made a call and was really happy to get what she needed last minute. When she got back to the music room, Carmilla was still angrily playing on her guitar. Laura approached her slowly and put her arms around her.

"Hey babe." She whispered in her ear.

Carmilla relaxed in her arms and put her guitar on its stand, turning and pulling Laura in her lap.

"Hey, Cupcake." She whispered back before kissing the other girl.

Before the singer could try to take things further, Laura stood up and pulled Carmilla up with her.

"Come, you need to take a shower and get dressed. I'm taking you out on a date."

"You are?" Carmilla asked, pleasantly surprised.

"Yes. And we need to leave soon, so come on, let's get ready."

"Where are you taking me?" Carmilla asked as they walked to their bedroom.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Cutie?" Laura answered in her best impersonation of the singer.

"How will I know what to wear if you don't tell me where we're going?" Carmilla said, trying to imitate Laura's usual eager, curious tone.

"I have already picked an outfit for you, it's on the bed." She answered laughing, she was enjoying being the one planning a surprise.

When both girls were ready to leave, Laura asked Carmilla for her car keys.

"Shouldn't we call Oliver?"

"No need, where we are going you won't need a bodyguard, unless you need someone to protect you against me." Laura said mischievously.

"Something tells me I may need it." She said, narrowing her eyes at the other girl.

"Don't be silly. Let's go." Laura said.

Laura parked the car at their destination and, before she could say anything, Carmilla burst out laughing.

"Seriously, Creampuff?" She asked, motioning with her head to the building Laura had parked next to.

"Seriously. This is just what we need right now. And we have the place for ourselves for two hours."

"How did you pull this off?"

"I know the owner and he owned me a favor sooo…"

"You are full of surprises, Cutie." Carmilla said smiling. "Ok, let's do this then."

Laura had taken Carmilla to a trampoline park and, as she said, they had the place for themselves, which allowed them to chase each other around without risking running into anyone else. It also meant they could make out whenever they fell together in one of the trampolines.

"Hey Carm." Laura called from the opposite side from where Carmilla was trying to regain her balance after miscalculating a jump.

"Yeah?"

"I'm challenging you for a game of SkySlam Madness. Come here."

Carmilla jumped her way over to her girlfriend.

"Alright. What do I get if I win?" She asked.

Laura rolled her eyes.

"You can never do something just for the fun of it, can you?"

"What can I say? I have a very competitive nature."

"Ok, fine." Laura huffed. "What do you want if you win?"

"I can ask anything?" She asked, biting her lower lip in the way she knew would make Laura's eyes follow the movement hungrily.

"Uh-huh." The tiny girl agreed, her eyes locked on her girlfriend's lips.

"If I win, we go skinny-dipping on that lake near your father's house the next time we visit him."

Laura choked on air.

"You're joking, right?"

"Nope, I'm dead serious."

Laura stared incredulously at Carmilla before shaking her head with a smile.

"I should have expected something like this from you. Alright, we can go skinny-dipping if you win, but you won't. I rock at SkySlam Madness."

"We'll see about that. What do you want if you win?"

It was Laura's time to bite her lip.

"Well, if I win, we go on that camping trip you didn't let me convince you to go a couple of weeks ago."

"Of course you'd go with that."

"We'll be able to look at the stars Carm, among _other things_."

"We can look at the stars and then go to a nice hotel for _other things_ , we don't need to sleep on the ground in the middle of nothing."

"You are just saying that to keep up your grumpy act. I know you'll enjoy it when we go." Laura said.

"Ok, I accept this only because I know I will win."

"Let's shake on it."

Carmilla rolled her eyes but shook Laura's hand nonetheless.

"May the best woman win, Cutie."


	26. Chapter 26

The sound of loud steps echoed through the hallway in the otherwise silent house.

"Shhh, be quiet Laura." Carmilla hissed.

"Oh, I'm sorry I'm not a freaking cat in the form of a human like you are Carmilla." Laura retorted.

"Judging by your size, I thought that you could at least walk like a Hobbit."

Laura smacked Carmilla's arm at that.

"Ouch, that hurt."

"You're like an inch taller than me."

"I'm still taller, Creampuff." Carmilla smirked but stopped abruptly when there was a noise at the end of the corridor.

They looked at each other, eyes wide, breathing fast and trying not to move a muscle or make any sound. After a minute of silence, Carmilla gestured for Laura to follow her. They moved closer to each other now, trying not to disturb the quiet of the night. Every now and then one of them would step in the wrong place and the floorboards would creak under their weight. Whenever this happened they stopped and cautiously waited for any signs that they might have been heard. When no lights were turned on and their names weren't called, they started moving again, being as careful as possible to avoid giving any more clues that they were up and about.

When they reached the door after ten excruciating minutes of a slow walk, Laura moved in front of Carmilla and unlocked it as quietly as she could. She opened it just a crack and then a little bit more, stopping before the point where she knew that the door would squeak. She passed through the opening carefully and waited for Carmilla to pass before closing and locking it. It was late and the night was very dark, but the full moon gave them just enough light to see where they were going. They crossed the backyard as quickly as possible without making too much noise. When they got to the fence separating the house from the forest behind, Carmilla expertly climbed it and jumped to the other side. Before she could turn around to help Laura, she heard the tiny girl string together so many of her Harry Potter related swear words that she couldn't help but laugh.

"What happened, Sweetpie?" She asked approaching Laura who seemed to be stuck halfway through jumping the fence.

"My shirt got stuck on something." She said, twisting her body to try and see what had caught her shirt.

"Let me." The singer said, putting her hands on Laura's leg in a sign for her to calm down and let her help.

Laura's shirt had gotten stuck on a nail that was sticking out. The singer carefully untangled it to avoid tearing the shirt. When she was free, the honey blonde girl finished jumping to the other side and turned on the flashlight they had brought to light their way through the forest.

They walked side by side now, Carmilla taking the branches of trees out of their way while Laura used the flashlight to find the trail she had walked so many times before.

"Did you bring the bear spray?" Carmilla asked with a laugh.

Laura rolled her eyes, but couldn't keep herself from laughing too.

Fifteen minutes later they came out on the other side of the forest, close to the edges of a beautiful lake. Laura looked around apprehensively while Carmilla walked ahead. After ascertain that there was no one around, that she could see, the tiny girl followed her girlfriend.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this." She said approaching Carmilla.

She turned off the flashlight so it wouldn't attract any eyes to them in case someone came wandering to the lake this late at night too.

"A bet is a bet, Cupcake, and I won fair and square."

"Not entirely fair and square since you didn't tell me you used to play SkySlam Madness every weekend with Will when you were younger." She pouted.

"You used to play it a lot too, as you said yourself. So, it was still fair and square." Carmilla replied smirking at the pouting girl. "Come on, let's do this. It'll be fun, you'll see."

Carmilla put the backpack they had brought with towels and robes on the floor and started taking off her shoes.

"Carm, wait." Laura said, putting her hands on Carmilla's arms to stop her. "What if someone decides to come to lake too?"

"Then we stay quiet so they don't see us. It's dark, someone would have to be looking for us to be able to see. But if someone does see us, then we run, Creampuff."

"Naked?" Laura squeaked.

"Unless you prefer to stop for clothes, which would defeat the purpose of running, then yes, naked."

Laura's face was so horrified that Carmilla couldn't stop herself from laughing, which made her girlfriend's expression change to offended pretty fast. The singer tenderly held the honey blonde's face in her hands and spoke to her softly.

"Look Laura, no one is going to see us ok? We're the only ones here and I seriously doubt someone else will have the same idea as us at this time of the night. I firmly believe we are not going to get caught, but if you don't want to do this, it's okay. We don't need to go through with it. We can go back to your dad's place if you want."

Laura's eyes softened at that. Even though she had her misgivings about this adventure, she could never deny Carmilla something she clearly wanted so much. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? Someone could run into them and see them naked, so what? It's not like it would be a paparazzo that would publish photos of their naked glory on the internet. _Nope, that's not happening here_.

"We're doing this. I won't back away from this challenge. Besides, you did win the bet." She said, smiling.

"Great. Let's go then." Carmilla said proceeding to take off her clothes. When she was down to her underwear she looked up at Laura and smiled. Moving sultrily towards her, the singer put her fingers under the other girl's chin and closed her mouth.

"Less gawking, more taking your clothes off, Creampuff." She said in a husky voice that got Laura to take her clothes off faster than she could say Hufflepuff.

For a few moments, all they did was admire one another in the soft glow of the moon. Each girl was so focused on the other that they didn't notice the loving glance they were receiving.

"You're beautiful, Laura." Carmilla whispered, running her hands through Laura's hair.

Laura shook her head smiling.

"No, you're beautiful, Carm."

Carmilla pulled Laura closer and kissed her slowly, exploring every inch of her mouth with her tongue. She kept her hands on Laura's back, she would let further exploring for when they were in the water.

"Ready?" She asked, breaking the kiss.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Laura answered taking a deep breath and look around one last time to make sure they were alone. "The water is probably freezing so it will be better if we just jump right in and get this over with."

"Alright, let's run for it then." The singer said, taking Laura's hand in hers and starting to run towards the water.

Both girls closed their eyes when their feet finally made contact with the cold water, but they kept going until it was safe to dive. They came back to the surface of the lake sputtering, the cold water making it hard to breathe properly.

"Ho-holy Huffl-ffl-puf." Laura said. "It-t's cold, Ca-arm." Laura stammered.

"I-I kn-now." Carmilla answered, her teeth chattering.

It took them a few minutes to get used to the temperature of the water, but once they stopped trembling so much they forgot about the cold and the risk of being caught and just enjoyed themselves. Laura insisted that they should have a race, which she won, to Carmilla's dismay. They played around like two kids on a waterpark for the first time. Seeing Carmilla have so much fun and laugh so freely made Laura's heart soar. Nothing mattered for her at that moment besides the laughing girl she was currently skinny-dipping with.

"What?" Carmilla asked approaching her.

"What _what_?"

"You have a funny look on your face, where did you go?" The singer said, moving them to a part of the lake where only their heads were above the water but their feet could touch the ground.

"I didn't go anywhere. I'm right here with you." Laura replied, bringing Carmilla in for a quick kiss. "I love you."

The dark haired girl pulled her back in for another kiss and another and another. Soon their hands began to wander all over each others bodies.

"Now we are getting where I wanted." Carmilla smirked before moving to place hard, open-mouthed kisses on Laura's neck and allowing her hands to do the further exploring she had denied them before.

Laura hummed in approval, letting her own hands slide down Carmilla's body.

"You know, Carm." She whispered. "This wasn't such a bad idea after all."

Carmilla let her right hand slip down Laura's abs.

"I knew I could make you enjoy it, love." She murmured, but Laura was beyond saying anything else at the moment.

They had been in the water for a couple of hours now and as enjoyable as the experience had been, Laura was starting to freeze again.

"Carm, we should go before we turn into popsicles, I'm starting to lose the feeling in my legs." Laura said.

"You're right, it's too cold to stay here any longer."

Just as Carmilla said those words they heard it. The incredibly loud noise of running feet and drunk screams. They jumped in place and the Carmilla acted quickly to cover Laura's mouth before the scream she saw coming could leave the tiny girl's throat.

"Shhh, stay quiet."

They looked out in the direction the noise was coming from and soon they saw a bunch of drunk teenagers running naked in the direction of the lake. They were close enough that the girls could see them clearly in the moonlight.

"We have to run." Carmilla said taking her hands off Laura's mouth.

"Are you crazy Carm? They are going to see us."

Just as she finished saying these words they heard the splash of large bodies hitting the water.

"Now." The singer said, pulling Laura with her in the direction of their things.

The two girls ran out of the lake and just as Carmilla picked a robe from their backpack and handed it to Laura, they were spotted by the group of teenagers.

"Hey." One of them shouted. "Who are you?"

"Come join us, beautiful." Another one screamed and laughed.

Carmilla and Laura quickly put on their robes and their shoes and started running. They didn't stop until they were in the middle of the trees, far away enough from the lake that they couldn't hear the shouts and cat callings that had followed their hasty exit. Laura stopped and reclined against a tree holding her aching ribs.

"I can't believe that just happened." She said, breathing hard.

That was enough to get Carmilla cackling and she followed soon. They just stood there, in their robes and shoes, hair dripping and laughing uncontrollably.

"Come on, Cupcake. We better get back to your dad's place before we get a cold." The singer said when they calmed down.

The way back was a lot harder because they didn't have the flashlight to help since they left it behind when they fled the naked teenagers.

"That image is burned in my mind, I'm traumatized."

"Serves you right, it was your idea after all."

"How was I supposed to know that a bunch of idiotic teenagers would come running from the trees completely naked? But your face when you saw them, Creampuff, was priceless."

"Laugh all you want, it was not my naked butt they got a flash of." She said smugly, making Carmilla groan.

"That's what I get for being a gentlewoman and making sure you were covered before I covered myself."

They both started laughing again at that. When they got back to the fence separating the Hollis residence from the forest, Carmilla helped Laura to jump it before following her. They were, once again, moving very quietly. They had already faced naked teenagers on this adventure, they didn't need Laura's dad to see them too. They managed to get inside the house without making a noise, slowly they started walking towards the stairs. The house was completely silent and both girls were relieved that they had managed to play truant without being caught.

Without warning the lights of the living room were on and both girls blinked at the sudden glare.

"Can you two explain exactly where you were at this time of the night dressed like that, young ladies?" Laura's dad said from behind them.

Laura and Carmilla turned slowly to face him. Sherman Hollis was standing in the middle of the room, his arms crossed over his chest and a very serious expression on his face.

"Dad…" Laura started to say, but Carmilla shook her head and moved forward standing in front of Laura.

"It's my fault, sir. I was the one who convinced Laura to go out. She didn't want to do it, but I insisted."

He raised his eyebrows unimpressed with the explanation and fixed his hard gaze on Carmilla, who began to squirm under the scrutiny.

"No, no, no. It isn't Carm's fault Dad. I was on board with this from the beginning. She didn't make me do anything I didn't want to."

Sherman directed his eyes to his daughter who had come to stand beside her girlfriend and was now holding her hand.

The silence stretched for a while, both girl internally panicking, they would have preferred it if Sherman was shouting at them. He uncrossed his arms and opened his mouth, Laura and Carmilla winced, preparing for the scolding, but what came out of Sherman's mouth was a boisterous laughter. The girls looked at each other confused. That was not what they were expecting.

"Your faces… you had to see your faces." Sherman said in between peals of laughter.

Carmilla began to relax, it seemed like he wasn't going to assume the over-protective father stance and tell her to stay away from his daughter. Not that she would have obeyed but she wanted to stay on his good side because she really liked him and because she knew that it was important for Laura.

"Am I correct to conclude that you went skinny-dipping at the lake?" He asked them once he managed to control his laughter.

Still too stunned to speak, Laura just nodded her head.

"Did you go all the way to the lake only wearing robes and shoes?"

"Hum, no." Carmilla said, not meeting his eyes. "We had an unfortunate encounter that precipitated our retreat a bit faster than we planned."

This only brought on a new round of laughter from Laura's dad.

"Well, make sure to go back there in the morning and gather the evidence, ok?" He said. "Now, go take a shower and put on something warm before you both get sick."

"Yes, sir."

"Wait." Laura said at the same time. "You're not mad?"

"No, pumpkin. I'm not mad. Your mom and I used to do this a lot before we had you. I can understand the appeal of that lake for young lovers." He wiggled his eyebrows.

Laura's eyes widened.

"Ugh, Dad. Too much information."

"Go on now, I don't want two sick girls on my hands tomorrow."

Laura and Carmilla turned and started to ascend the stars. Once they were halfway up, Sherman called them.

"Oh, Laura and Carmilla." They turned to look at him. "Did you at least take a bear spray?"

They all laughed a good five minutes after that.

Laura and Carmilla had been staying in Sherman's house since the Tuesday following Mattie's disclosure about Ell's modeling agency. This was the first place they could think of to escape the renewed attention of the media. Apparently, the gossip mongers of the city were very interested on how Ell's return would affect the relationship between the singer and the journalist. Once again, Betty told Laura to work from home to avoid the constant presence of competition at the door of the newspaper's building. Carmilla put the final touches of the post-production of her album on JP's hand and drove with Laura to her father's place, they had promised a visit after all.

During the week they had been following the gossip articles about Ell popping up not only on the newspapers, but also on the internet. People unearthed old pictures of Carmilla and Ell and were publishing them, comparing to pictures of the singer and Laura and making speculations about the differences between the relationships. For Carmilla, this was a nightmare. She didn't want to be reminded of her time with Ell. She didn't feel anything for the girl anymore and seeing the pictures didn't exactly hurt her, but it made her angry at Ell and at her mother. Laura tried to distract her from this as best she could, which actually worked most of the time.

Sherman had welcomed them at his house with open arms, he would never complain about the chance to spend more time with his daughter. When Carmilla and Laura explained to him the reasons they were seeking refuge with him, he offered to go to the city and have a talk with Ell himself. It took the two girls almost two hours to calm him down and convince him not to interfere.

"You see, Carmilla. If you're dating my daughter then you get under Papa Hollis protection too and I'm not going to let a gold digger hurt either you or Laura." He'd told the singer who had trouble pretending her eyes didn't tear up at that. "Of course, that fishing kit you brought me from Paris also helped you to gain a few points." He laughed.

Laura was very pleased by how well Carmilla and her father were getting along. That was until she came down to the living room one evening after spending the afternoon in her room working on an article for Betty and found them sitting on the the sofa looking over old photo albums. She was sure she was having an aneurysm when she saw the photos her father had just shown Carmilla. Since the incident, the singer couldn't stop stop teasing her about the ladybug costume she had when she was three years old.

Surprisingly, Carmilla came down to the kitchen before Laura did the day after their skinny-dipping adventure.

"Good morning, sir."

"When are you going to stop calling me 'sir', Miss Karnstein?" Sherman said without taking his eyes off the newspaper he was reading.

"When I stop being afraid of you." Carmilla replied with a smirk, making him roll his eyes exactly like his daughter does.

"Where's Laura? I don't think I've ever seen you get to the kitchen before her." He said, putting down the newspaper and accepting the coffee refill the singer was offering him.

"She's still asleep. I thought I'd let her rest a bit more after our adventures last night." Carmilla answered, looking away and blushing.

"Ah yes, that must have been, hum, tiring."

They sat in companionable silence for a little while, Sherman had learned that it was on his best interest to let Carmilla finish at least one cup of coffee in the morning before trying to engage her in conversation.

"Want some pancakes?" Papa Hollis asked when Carmilla got up to get more coffee.

"That would be nice, thanks."

"So, Carmilla," Sherman said as he started to gather the ingredients for their breakfast, "I wanted to ask you something."

"Ok."

"All this mess with your ex is quite complicated from what I've gathered." He started to put the ingredients on the batter. "You'll make sure Laura doesn't get hurt by it, right?"

"Of course, sir. My priority is taking care of her. I don't want to hurt her anymore than you want to see her hurt."

"And if she wanted out?" He said turning around and looking Carmilla in the eyes.

"Out?" She asked confused.

"Yes, out. If this became too much for her and she wanted out?"

"Then, I'd let her go." Carmilla answered, her eyes full of pain at imaging this.

Sherman seemed to be satisfied by this answer and changed the topic of conversation for more mundane things.

Once the pancakes were ready Carmilla went back upstairs to wake Laura. It was weird that her tiny ball of energy was still abed. Laura was still sleeping and when Carmilla touched her face to wake her up she realized the tiny girl was burning up with a fever.

"Hey Laura, wake up sweetheart."

Laura groaned and opened her eyes slowly.

"I don't feel very well, Carm. My throat is hurting."

"I know babe, I think you have caught a cold. You're burning with a fever."

"Ughh, I don't want to be sick." Laura moaned.

"I'll take care of you, don't worry." Carmilla whispered. "Where can I find a thermometer?"

"Bathroom cupboard under the sink."

Carmilla got up to get it and came back to find Laura in the same position. She took Laura's temperature just to make sure it wasn't alarmingly high.

"Stay in bed. I'll bring you some breakfast and something for your fever ok?"

"Uh-huh." The honey blonde murmured.

When she reentered the kitchen, Sherman frowned at seeing her alone.

"Where's Laura?"

"Well, uh, you see, sir," Carmilla stammered, she was afraid what he'd do once she told him she had gotten his daughter sick, "Laura is actually not feeling very well. She's not too bad, but she has a slight fever and maybe a sore throat?"

"I see. I suspect your adventures last night are the reason for this?"

"Yes. I'm really sorry for getting her sick, Mr. Hollis."

Sherman actually chuckled at that, making Carmilla very confused.

"Well kid, you can show how sorry you are by taking care of her. You'll learn that, when she is sick, Laura is grumpier than you before your first cup of coffee in the morning." With that he got up and left an astonished Carmilla behind. _Laura, grumpy? As if._

Carmilla wished she had believed Sherman when he said Laura was grumpier than her when she was sick. During the entire day, the tiny girl stayed in bed complaining about being sick. She turned her face to the medicines Carmilla got her. The singer had to bribe her with a Harry Potter marathon to get her to take them. She refused everything Carmilla offered her to eat or drink and wouldn't listen when her girlfriend explained again and again how she needed to eat and hydrate in order to get better. If that wasn't enough, Lura refused to let Carmilla get more than a few feet away from her. If healthy Laura Hollis was a cuddler, sick Laura Hollis was an octopus. Not that Carmilla minded being entangled with Laura, but she really didn't want to get sick too and she was feeling really hot under all the covers Laura had made her put over them because she was feeling cold.

"Sing for me, Carm?" Laura asked her that night.

The journalist had just taken a shower after eating a soup Carmilla had made her under Sherman's supervision. She was a little less grumpy now that her fever was over.

"Alright, what do you want me to sing?"

"Anything, I just want to hear your voice." She murmured.

Carmilla turned off the lights and settled in the bed. Laura immediately put her head on her chest, her arms around her waist and entangled their legs. Carmilla smiled down at her.

"Comfortable?"

"Yeah."

"Ok." Carmilla said clearing her throat before she started singing in a soft voice.

"People tell me there will come a time

When your heart and mine will grow cold

No more staring at the evening sky

Low replaces high when you're old

As long as you're around I'll follow you

You won't ever be alone

As long as you're around I'll follow you

And I will be wherever you go

They say the future is our enemy

Time eventually will set the sun

But I believe in you and you believe in me

How can we ever go wrong?

As long as you're around I'll follow you

You won't ever be alone

As long as you're around I'll follow you

I will be wherever you go

So be patient baby

Hold me close

I hope you understand

You're a beautiful woman

And I'm just a girl

So in the hours of the darkest kind

When it's hard to find who we are

One can stare into the other's eyes

Be each other's light in the dark

As long as you're around I'll follow you

You won't ever be alone

As long as you're around I'll follow you

And I will be wherever you go"

Carmilla thought Laura had fallen asleep in the middle of the song, but as soon as she finished she felt the other girl press closer to her.

"That was so beautiful, Carm. Thank you. I love you, always." And with that she was fast asleep.

"I love you too, Laura." Carmilla said before pulling Laura even closer and falling asleep too.

The next day Laura woke up feeling a little better, but she was still grumpy and wanted to stay in bed with Carmilla. They spent the morning lazing around, but in the afternoon the singer convinced the other girl to move about a little bit and go join her father in the living room. Laura sat on the sofa with a thick wool blanket around her, working on her notebook while her father tried to teach Carmilla how to make origamis.

"No, no, no. You have to fold this part to the other side. Like this." Sherman said, showing the singer the correct way to fold the paper dragon.

"How come you know how to make origamis anyway?" She asked, folding her own dragon the way he had done with his.

"When my wife died I needed something to distract myself and a friend suggested I try learning origamis. I found that it was very therapeutic, it kept my hands and my mind busy and allowed me to spend time with Laura without either of us breaking down." Sherman said, his voice still sad even after so many years.

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean to bring up sad memories."

"It's alright kid, don't worry about this."

They stayed like that for a while until Laura broke the silence with a shout, making Carmilla and her dad jump in their seats and throw paper all over the floor.

"That raging bi-bad person." She shouted. "If she thinks she's going to get away with this she's very wrong."

"Who are you talking about Laura?" Her father asked while Carmilla moved to sit beside her on the sofa and take a look at her notebook screen.

"Ell. That's who I'm talking about. She said the most absurd things about Carm." Laura cried indignantly.

"Let me see." Carmilla said, pulling the notebook towards her while Sherman walked behind them so he could read over the singer's shoulder.

" _ **Ell Hall is back and she has a lot to say**_

 _By Sarah Jane_

 _Nothing better to launch my brand new website,_ _ **Sarah Jane Knows**_ _, than an interview with the infamous model Ell Hall. But is she really as bad as we were led to believe? I've had a long talk with the ex-girlfriend of out favorite punk start, Carmilla Karnstein, and has promised to take the city by storm._

 _ **SJ**_ _: Ell, tell us about your return to the modeling scene, we had thought we wouldn't see you again._

 _ **EH**_ _: Oh no, you couldn't get rid of me that easily. I took some time to refocus on what was really important for me in my life and bring my career back to the place where I wanted it. Now with my own modeling agency I have the freedom to choose what I want to do._

 _ **SJ**_ _: You mean you couldn't choose before?_

 _ **EH**_ _: Well, not really. There were, hum, other forces influencing me. If you know what I mean._

 _ **SJ**_ _: I don't know what you mean. What other forces were those?_

 _ **EH**_ _: Oh, you know my ex-girlfriend. She always had to have a say in what I did. She got jealous pretty easily so I couldn't really do any job that wasn't approved by her first._

 _ **SJ**_ _: You mean Carmilla Karnstein, right?_

 _ **EH**_ _: Yes, who else?_

 _ **SJ**_ _: So, you're telling us that Carmilla is the jealous type and used to control you?_

 _ **EH**_ _: Of course, or do you really believe she is the victim she likes to portray herself as?_

 _ **SJ**_ _: But you did cheat on her, didn't you?_

 _ **EH**_ _: Yes, I did. I won't deny that. However, I only did it because I couldn't take it anymore. I tried breaking up with Carmilla so many times, but she wouldn't accept it. The only way for her to let me go was if I damaged her precious public image._

 _ **SJ**_ _: You mean then that Carmilla was the one at fault for your break-up and your subsequent career upheaval?_

 _ **EH**_ _: Of course she was. She destroyed my career as revenge._

 _ **SJ**_ _: What do you think of her relationship with Laura Hollis?_

 _ **EH**_ _: Doomed to fail. Clearly this Hollis girl is too stupid to see it, but Carmilla can love noone but herself. She is a selfish, uncaring person. She will use that project of a journalist for as long as she wants and then toss her aside like she did with me. That wisp of a girl isn't even Carmilla's type, she clearly forgot to grow up, she looks like a child hopped up on too much sugar. I don't know what she did to get into Carmilla's pants, but it won't last."_

Carmilla shut the notebook, it would be a waste of time to keep reading that.

"We can't let her get away with that Carm." Laura said.

"I must agree with my daughter. What a disagreeable person this girl is. I may not have known you very long Carmilla, but I know you're exactly the opposite of what she's claiming." Sherman said.

"Thanks Mr. Holl- eh, Sherman." Carmilla said and took a deep breath.

"I'll call Mattie to let her know about this. She'll probably want to take care of it herself."

"You got yourself one of the complicated ones kid." Sherman said once Carmilla had left the room to call her sister.

"She's worthy all the trouble dad." Laura replied, her voice hoarse because of her cold.

"I know that. I think you made a good choice, pumpkin." He ruffled her hair like he used to do when she was a child.

"Thanks dad. I'm really glad you approve of her."

"It's hard not to once you see beyond all the black clothes and punk attitude. She's a really sweet girl."

"No one here is sweet." Carmilla said from the doorway, having listened to the end of their conversation.

"Oh Carm, you really think you can fool us? We Hollises are good at reading people." Laura said.

"That we are." Sherman agreed. "I'll leave you two to talk and go out to pick up some dinner for us. Think you can do Mexican Laura?"

"Yeah, sounds good dad."

Once her father had left, Laura turned to Carmilla who had sat beside her once more.

"What did Mattie say?"

"That she's on it. She didn't even let me speak before she told me to just stay calm and wait. As if I could just stay calm and wait while Ell is out there insulting you as if she even knew anything about you really."

"Of course she's, wait, what?"

"What?" Carmilla asked confused by Laura's confusion.

"You're worried about what she said about me?"

"Of course, what did you think I was worried about?"

"Maybe the fact that she lied about you? Said horrible things about your relationship that aren't true at all?"

"I don't care what she says about me. She's a lying bitch and her mask will fall sooner or later. But I won't let her mess with my girl."

Laura beamed at her.

"My dad is right. You are the sweetest girlfriend ever. I chose very, very well." She said, pulling Carmilla in for a kiss.

"Cupcake," Carmilla said against her lips, "You'll give me a cold."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to take proper care if you." The tiny girl replied pulling her girlfriend back in for another kiss.

The song Carmilla sings to Laura in this chapter is "I'll Follow You" by Jon McLaughlin


End file.
